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PHILADELPHIA – Philadelphia has reached the halfway point of its World Cup schedule, with three matches completed and the city seeing large crowds, busy businesses, and packed public events, according to local officials.<\/p>\n
Philadelphia\u2019s World Cup draws record crowds and boosts business <\/p>\n
What we know:<\/p>\n
Philly Fan Fest has been the most attended of any U.S. host city, peaking at 55,000 people on several days, said Meg Kane, who has been directing the Philadelphia side of the FIFA World Cup. Hotels are reporting higher occupancy and the city is seeing strong turnout at stadium events, the Art Museum, and Reading Terminal Market.<\/p>\n
“It\u2019s been really exceptional,” said Kane. “This is such a nice dynamic of validation of what the city has done over the past 25 years to elevate itself to a global cosmopolitan city and our residents reading this is really where we live and it\u2019s cool people are recognizing that.”<\/p>\n
SEPTA reported that Friday\u2019s night match saw the B line carry more than 29,000 passengers home from the match within an hour and 15 minutes, the second-highest ridership of all time next to the 2025 NFC Championship game, according to SEPTA spokesperson Andrew Busch.<\/p>\n
“When you have something like a huge Eagles game or even a parade it\u2019s kind of all in for one day and making sure you are able to tackle that event.. this is more of a marathon,” said Busch.<\/p>\n
Around Center City and Lemon Hill, businesses are seeing more customers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
At Pete\u2019s Famous Pizza, Oscar, a cook, said, “Very busy but very fun, they come from everywhere.”<\/p>\n
At The Bishop\u2019s Collar, bartender Collin Willcock said, “It\u2019s good for the neighborhood we\u2019re used to events that last a day and then it\u2019s over. So we\u2019re just getting used to keeping it rolling.”<\/p>\n
Even on a Tuesday afternoon, the bar at Bishop\u2019s Collar was filled with World Cup fans.<\/p>\n
Officials say the World Cup is bringing a “mix of vibrancy” to the city during a time when Welcome America and Fourth of July celebrations are also happening. Kane said, “Overall this is an incredible mix of vibrancy that\u2019s coming to the city at time where Welcome America is happening we are anticipating the, 4th of July an I think it\u2019s building momentum.”<\/p>\n
The World Cup is already being called a win for Philadelphia by those organizing and supporting the events.<\/p>\n
The city\u2019s businesses, public transit, and hospitality industry are all seeing a boost as fans from around the world visit for the matches.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s next for Philadelphia\u2019s World Cup run <\/p>\n
Three matches have been played so far, with three more scheduled. SEPTA is planning for three additional matches and expects continued high ridership.<\/p>\n
An economic impact study will be conducted after the World Cup to determine the full financial effect on the city.<\/p>\n
The city is preparing for more events as the World Cup continues, with officials and businesses adapting to the ongoing crowds and activity.<\/p>\n
What we don’t know:<\/p>\n
The results of the economic impact study have not yet been released.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It is not yet clear exactly how much revenue or long-term benefit the World Cup will bring to Philadelphia.<\/p>\n
The Source: Interviews with Meg Kane, Andrew Busch, Oscar, and Collin Willcock; reporting from FOX 29.<\/p>\n
FIFA World Cup<\/a>News<\/a>Tourism<\/a>Economy<\/a>Philadelphia<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PHILADELPHIA – Philadelphia has reached the halfway point of its World Cup schedule, with three matches completed and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":226254,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[83,139,539,69,71,70,7803,593,8153,2236],"class_list":["post-226253","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-money","tag-news","tag-pa","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-headlines","tag-philadelphia-news","tag-tourism","tag-us","tag-us-economy","tag-world-cup"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226253","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=226253"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226253\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/226254"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=226253"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=226253"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=226253"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}