July sixteenth, twenty twenty six by Liz Everett Krisberg, Head of Bank of America Institute and David Michael Tinsley, Senior Economist, Bank of America Institute
The FIFA World Cup 2026™ quarterfinal host cities saw boosts to spending
Total credit and debit card point-of-sale spending in U S World Cup host cities over quarterfinals (year-over-year (Y o Y) percent)
Bar chart showing year-over-year growth in credit and debit card point-of-sale spending in four U S cities that hosted FIFA World Cup two thousand twenty six quarterfinal matches. Two measures are shown for each city: total spending and restaurant spending. Boston experienced the strongest gains, with total spending up about six point two percent year over year and restaurant spending up about three point three percent. Kansas City saw moderate increases, with total spending rising roughly two point three percent and restaurant spending increasing about two point seven percent. Los Angeles also recorded gains, with total spending up approximately one point four percent and restaurant spending up around two point one percent. Miami showed little change in overall spending, which was slightly positive at roughly zero point one percent, while restaurant spending declined about two point six percent.
Source: Bank of America internal data
Note: Spending includes the day before and after the quarterfinal match was played in each city.
BANK OF AMERICA INSTITUTE
The FIFA World Cup 2026™ is reaching a thrilling conclusion, with Argentina and Spain set to face off in Sunday's final at the New York-New Jersey stadium. For supporters of either team, the stakes could hardly be higher. But no matter what, it's a chance to celebrate a memorable tournament that has delivered excitement both on and off the field.
As we've highlighted throughout the course of the tournament, host cities have enjoyed a meaningful boost to spending on matchdays. Looking back at last week's quarterfinals, the pattern mostly continued, with particular strength at bars and restaurants. Bank of America aggregated credit and debit card data suggests in-person spending rose over six percent year over year in Boston, over two percent year over year in Kansas City, just under two percent year over year in Los Angeles, but was mostly flat in Miami.
Selected Bank of America transaction data is used to inform the macroeconomic views expressed in this report and should be considered in the context of other economic indicators and publicly available information. In certain instances, the data may provide directional and/or predictive value. The data used is not comprehensive; it is based on aggregated and anonymized selections of Bank of America data and may reflect a degree of selection bias and limitations on the data available.
Any payments data represents aggregated spend from U S Retail, Preferred, Small Business and Wealth Management clients with a deposit account or credit card. Aggregated spend include total credit card, debit card, A C H, wires, bill pay, business/peer-to-peer, cash, and checks.
Any household consumer deposit data based on Bank of America internal data is derived by anonymizing and aggregating data from Bank of America consumer deposit accounts in the U S and analyzing that data at a highly aggregated level. Whenever median household savings and checking balances are quoted, the data is based on a fixed cohort of households that had a consumer deposit account (checking and/or savings account) for all months from January two thousand nineteen through the most current month of data shown.
Transactions and spending associated with the FIFA World Cup two thousand twenty six™ are based on data aggregated point-of-sale credit and debit card spending in C B S A's (core based statistical areas) associated with tournament stadiums.
Additional information about the methodology used to aggregate the data is available upon request.
These materials have been prepared by Bank of America Institute and are provided to you for general information purposes only. To the extent these materials reference Bank of America data, such materials are not intended to be reflective or indicative of, and should not be relied upon as, the results of operations, financial conditions or performance of Bank of America. Bank of America Institute is a think tank dedicated to uncovering powerful insights that move business and society forward. Drawing on data and resources from across the bank and the world, the Institute delivers important, original perspectives on the economy, sustainability and global transformation. Unless otherwise specifically stated, any views or opinions expressed herein are solely those of Bank of America Institute and any individual authors listed, and are not the product of the B of A Global Research department or any other department of Bank of America Corporation or its affiliates and/or subsidiaries (collectively Bank of America). The views in these materials may differ from the views and opinions expressed by the B of A Global Research department or other departments or divisions of Bank of America. Information has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but Bank of America does not warrant its completeness or accuracy. These materials do not make any claim regarding the sustainability of any product or service. Any discussion of sustainability is limited as set out herein. Views and estimates constitute our judgment as of the date of these materials and are subject to change without notice. The views expressed herein should not be construed as individual investment advice for any particular person and are not intended as recommendations of particular securities, financial instruments, strategies or banking services for a particular person. This material does not constitute an offer or an invitation by or on behalf of Bank of America to any person to buy or sell any security or financial instrument or engage in any banking service. Nothing in these materials constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice.
Copyright two thousand twenty six Bank of America Corporation. All rights reserved.
.jpg/_jcr_content/renditions/original){kind=logo}
