More than half the Philadelphia area’s short-term rentals “remained available during the World Cup” as of Wednesday, “including on game days and game-day eves,” according to Eric McCarthy of the PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER. The figure comes from AirDNA, which analyzes Airbnb and Vrbo data, with the market containing more than 8,600 Airbnb and Vrbo listings, though not all properties are open for booking every day. Some soccer fans have “said they are staying away from the games.” They point to “high ticket prices, increasingly expensive airfare, exorbitant transit costs in some host cities, frustration with FIFA as a business, and deep concern about issues that could arise because of U.S. immigration policies.” In Philadelphia, the World Cup is also set to overlap with the city’s celebrations of the U.S.’s 250th anniversary, and shortly after FIFA leaves town, the MLB All-Star Game will take place at Citizens Bank Park. While there “hasn’t been a flood of World Cup reservations, some Philly-area short-term-rental hosts have started to see bookings trickle in.” Hoteliers “aren’t faring much better than short-term renters.” Last month, about 80% of hotel operators in 11 U.S. host cities — about 75% in Philadelphia — said that demand for rooms during the World Cup had “not met expectations” (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 5/7).

LACKLUSTER EFFORT: In Boston, Serres & Silverman noted all over Philadelphia, “from Lincoln Financial Field to busy Schuylkill Expressway, there are billboards and colorful signs heralding” the World Cup. If preparing for a World Cup “were itself a soccer match, with host cities competing on the pitch,” then Philadelphia “would be trouncing much of the field.” On the streets of Boston, “World Cup fervor is decidedly more subdued.” Apart from a “countdown clock outside Faneuil Hall and some digital billboards at Logan Airport, there are few visible signs that seven internationally televised games and a projected 2 million tourists will descend on Boston starting in just 35 days.” In Philadelphia, the marketing rollout has been “smoothly run, well funded, and notably drama-free.” Organizers have raised $65M in corporate and philanthropic funding, “roughly tripling Boston’s haul, while landing more than twice as many local sponsors.” To some, Boston’s “lackluster preparations for the World Cup reflect a deeper funk settling over the region.” But the “sense of malaise could yet lift.” Two weeks ago, Boston organizers acknowledged “‘some bumps’ on the road to the World Cup, but predicted the city will shine in the end” (BOSTON GLOBE, 5/6).