Billion-dollar games
World Cup matches take place at stadiums, but the economic impact and experience of the tournament far exceed the scope of the stadium. The increase in international visitors, the attention of global media and commercial activities make the host city a part of the event.
A report from Britannica Money suggests that the 2026 World Cup is different from previous tournaments. For the first time, this event will take place in 3 countries: the US, Canada and Mexico. With the number of participating teams increasing from 32 to 48 teams, the 3-country co-hosting model helps distribute pressure on finance, logistics and infrastructure created by a larger-scale tournament.
The new format also changes the event's risk profile. Unlike Brazil in 2014, which required the construction and renovation of large-scale stadiums, the 2026 tournament will rely on existing major sports venues in all 3 countries. This minimizes the financial risk associated with the new construction of venues that may have limited usage time after the tournament ends.
The cost of hosting the World Cup is still very high. Even existing venues must be renovated, often requiring installation of natural grass, adjustment of stadium size and other modifications to meet FIFA's commercial standards and "clean venues".
The World Cup also creates financial burdens. That burden has been clearly shown in the months before the 2026 tournament. In the US, 625 million USD has been allocated to the Security Foundation for 11 host cities. In Canada, the estimated cost of Toronto has increased from tens of millions of USD to about 380 million USD. And even in Mexico, where the hosting cost is the lowest among the 3 countries, hotel prices have also skyrocketed by nearly 1,000% in some cities as the tournament approaches.
However, FIFA estimates that the 2026 World Cup could contribute 17.2 billion USD to the US economy and support hundreds of thousands of jobs in the fields of tourism, services, transportation and event organization. The total number of spectators to stadiums is forecast to reach about 6.5 million people.
The city of Los Angeles (USA) is forecast to be one of the localities in this country that benefits the most from the 2026 FIFA World Cup. According to a new study by the sports website Bookies.com, activities related to the World Cup can create an economic impact of about 594 million USD for the Los Angeles area. This city in California is expected to welcome nearly 180,000 tourists during the tournament, from mid-June to mid-July.
Tourist spending on accommodation, dining, entertainment and travel is estimated at tens of millions of USD, while local hotel revenue may increase by more than 20% compared to normal. Experts believe that most of the revenue will come from the service, restaurant, hotel and transportation sectors.
Los Angeles Stadium (temporarily renamed from SoFi Stadium) will host 8 World Cup matches, including the opening match of the US team. With the highest number of matches among the venues, Los Angeles is considered one of the important venues for the tournament.
According to a thematic research report from BofA Global Research - a specialized market analysis and research department of Bank of America, the 2026 World Cup - a tournament taking place from June 11 to July 19 - is expected to contribute about 41 billion USD to global GDP and support more than 800,000 jobs.
Exploiting the gold mine of sports economics
From the above perspective, it can be clearly seen that hosting a major global sporting event can completely bring clear economic benefits and jobs not only in the host city but also at the national level.
For Vietnam, a country with internal advantages and aspirations to rise up, we are facing a golden opportunity to reshape our thinking about sports, thereby building a professional and sustainable sports economy.
In fact, physical education and sports activities today mainly rely on sponsorship and television copyright sources, while revenue from athlete commercialization, accompanying services and related products have not been effectively exploited. Only in the past few years has the issue of sports economy gradually been concerned.
However, Vietnam has a lot of room and opportunities to develop the sports economy, turning this sector into a spearhead contributing to the overall GDP.
At the Vietnam Sports Economic Forum held in March 2026, Mr. Nguyen Van Hung, then Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said: "We have been consulted with the experiences of some countries that have taken the lead in moving from developing purely sports to developing sports as an economic sector. In which, the experience of Korea is a very worthy case to refer to. For a country that is lagging behind like Vietnam, their experience is a very necessary lesson to refer to, to know how to take shortcuts and get ahead.
South Korea more than 20 years ago was very successful in hosting the World Cup with Japan. But for sports to become an economic spearhead with a scale of tens of billions of USD each year, an important condition is needed: Infrastructure. Especially when wanting to host major sports tournaments.
Opportunities are coming. In the global context, the ability to organize events sustainably is gradually becoming an important criterion for a destination to be selected and maintain its long-term position, so the appearance of regional and world-class sports facilities is a highlight.
On December 19, 2025, Hanoi marked a new milestone in the history of urban development when the "super project" Olympic Sports Urban Area officially started construction. With a scale of more than 9,000ha, total investment of over 925,000 billion VND, the project is expected to create a modern sports - urban space of international stature.
The highlight of the project is Hung Vuong Stadium - a national-level project deployed on an area of 73.3ha, with a capacity of up to 135,000 seats, designed to FIFA standards, with the largest automatic opening and closing roof in the world.
In the South, at the beginning of 2026, the groundbreaking ceremony of the Rach Chiec National Sports Complex complex was also held. This is the largest sports infrastructure project in terms of scale and total investment to date in Ho Chi Minh City.
With a total investment of more than 145.600 billion VND, the highlight of the project is the roofed central stadium, with a capacity of 70,000 seats, equipped with air conditioning and modern operating technology. This is the first stadium in Vietnam designed according to a multi-functional model, capable of organizing top sports events in parallel with large-scale entertainment and music festival programs.
The future of Vietnam's sports economy is wide open, not only contributing to GDP growth, creating many jobs but also enhancing national pride, promoting the national image on the international stage. The development of the industry will bring direct benefits to the people, helping to improve the quality of life and create a healthier and more dynamic society.
