The matches were across the Hudson, but much of the money landed in New York City.
According to City Hall, the World Cup delivered an estimated $2 billion economic boost to the city, including $1.2 billion in visitor spending.
Jeffrey LeFrancois represents dozens of business improvement districts across the five boroughs.
“The economic impact could have been broader across the five boroughs, but obviously, the core, Manhattan is the core, really benefited significantly,” LeFrancois, the co-chair of the New York City BID Association, said.
Council Member Shanel Thomas-Henry says that the citywide win wasn’t felt everywhere.
“Corona, Queens. We hosted one of the largest fan fest events, but did that economic activity didn’t really trickle down to the small businesses in the outer boroughs,” she said.
Thomas-Henry is now trying to bring another piece of the World Cup money home.
Her resolution calls on FIFA to make a $1 million legacy contribution host cities say they were verbally promised.
“Although the agreement was verbal, not written, that shouldn’t matter. It was a good faith effort to give to the communities, and FIFA should really honor their promises to the communities of New York City,” Thomas-Henry said.
And business leaders say other money may have already gone elsewhere.
“In many instances, it was quite challenging to get a permit. Some brands chose to pick up and activate elsewhere and not in New York City,” LeFrancois said.
He said the system was overwhelmed despite years to prepare.
“The thing is, there wasn’t a plan in place to meet that demand, and that’s where the miss happened,” LeFrancois said.
NY1 reached out to FIFA for comment regarding the legacy contribution funds, but has not heard back.