Boston wonders if they can re-support nightlife based on the results so far from the World Cup
The Boston Globe has been writing about the impact of the World Cup on the city's nightlife.
Where the Scots cleaned out alcohol supplies ("‘We’ve never seen anything like it’: Patrons emptied bars and liquor stores in Boston this weekend"), the city extended open hours till 3 am ("Governor Healey signs bill allowing 3 a.m. last call for the World Cup, expanding public drinking through July"), outdoor public drinking zones, like Bourbon Street in New Orleans, etc.
So the Boston Globe wonders if "Boston nightlife is in the midst of a grand social experiment. Can the good vibes last?."
As someone who worked on commercial district revitalization for 20 years in DC and wrote a lot about this issue, they missed the biggest possible point and difference, the addition of many tens of thousands of people from out of the area who were there for nightlife.
Temporarily, World Cup cities are functioning more like 24/7 nightlife districts in Las Vegas, Miami, and not quite NYC, plus Bourbon Street in New Orleans, Beale Street in Memphis?. People go to those cities to party.
A traditional city, at least in the US, just doesn't have that kind of latent populations always going out, and willing to be shitfaced and then go to work. Concerns like:
- Having to work two jobs
- mobility when drunk
- the impact of smartphones on entertainment choices, less ability to socialize
- the cost of going out
- consumption of experiences
- labor for the establishments and the the rise of the cost of goods sold,
- rents and changing business models due to work from home reducing office visits
- people drinking less
- People consuming edibles instead of drinking,
- mocktails (just as expensive to produce, lower margins,
- etc.
Labels: alcohol sales, commercial district revitalization planning, demographics, experience economy, high cost of housing, nightlife economy, restaurants, urban revitalization
posted by Richard Layman @ 9:58 PM&Permanent Link
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In U.S. cities big and small, summer crowds signal an urban comeback
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2026/06/27/us-cities-big-small-summer-crowds-signal-an-urban-comeback/
That energy can be seen in cities across the country as people search for ways to connect with one another this summer. The enthusiasm has been especially pronounced in the 11 U.S. cities hosting World Cup matches, where fans are flooding stadiums, festivals and bars to cheer on their teams. But even those without World Cup games — from big cities like Milwaukee to smaller ones such as Abilene, Texas — are reporting a renewed glow around seasonal festivals and events.
The trends suggest that the nation’s cities continue to bounce back from the pandemic and its aftermath by drawing people out of their homes to downtown business districts. Local officials say the surge in interest reaffirms the push in recent decades to invest in public spaces, including waterfront parks, entertainment venues and bicycle lanes.
Over the past three months, Pittsburgh reported record attendance for the NFL draft. In Cleveland, so many people showed up to an Asian cultural festival last month that police had to shut it down early. And in New York, where many residents say the city is experiencing its most robust summer in decades, about 2 million people overwhelmed Lower Manhattan last week to celebrate the Knicks’ NBA championship.
Local residents are helping to energize the host cities, too. During the first 11 days of the tournament, about 250,000 people visited Philadelphia’s Fan Festival, including 54,000 who crammed into Lemon Hill Park on Friday. Atlanta reported that nearly 275,000 people have attended its fan festival in Centennial Olympic Park.
“With the World Cup, we are being reminded how great cities are and how cities are better than anything else at doing what we value the most, which is bringing people together,” said Jeff Speck, a city planner who wrote “Walkable City: How Downtown Can Save America, One Step at a Time.”
Speck added that the enthusiasm this summer reaffirms that “covid was a blip” that did little to slow a trend that began around the turn of the century: more people wanting to reside and socialize in the nation’s downtowns.
“The challenge we have in cities is not getting people back into them,” Speck said. “It’s making them affordable for all the people who want to live in them.”
Hoylman-Sigal said people also want to congregate to distract themselves from divisive political polarization.
Even some skeptics of funding for sports arenas concede that the atmosphere in cities this summer has been a hit. Chris Dempsey, an urban planner who led a fight against Boston’s bid for the 2024 Olympic Games, said “the fun has been very real” because of the World Cup.
But Dempsey attributes that atmosphere to investments in public spaces that people can “use every single day.”
“A lot of the revelry and celebration that has happened in Boston have happened in truly public spaces that are not even close to the stadium,” Dempsey said, noting that the stadium where World Cup matches are played is about 30 miles outside of Boston. “The buzz and the energy has been right downtown.”
https://www.ocregister.com/2026/07/12/venice-beachs-world-cup-moment-with-fan-zone-signals-new-chapter-for-businesses-la28-olympics/
For three days, the Official Los Angeles World Cup Fan Zone transformed one of the world’s most iconic beachfront destinations into an international gathering place, where giant match broadcasts, live music, cultural performances, wellness experiences and local businesses combined to create an atmosphere organizers hope becomes a blueprint for Venice’s future during the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The activation, assembled in just three months, welcomed more than 5,000 visitors each day, according to organizers, while introducing thousands of residents and international visitors to Washington Boulevard businesses that have spent recent years working to recover from declining tourism and the lasting impacts of the pandemic. “This was never just about soccer,” said event producer Jon Besant. “It’s about bringing the community together.”
As president of the Venice Pier Association, Cohn said the success of the Fan Zone has reinforced what many local business owners have long believed that major public activations can become powerful economic engines for the neighborhood.
“This isn’t just about one weekend,” Cohn said. “It’s about creating a model for how Venice can activate public spaces, support small businesses and become a year-round destination where culture, community and commerce come together.”
For many visitors, that international atmosphere became the day’s defining memory.
“These events are about much more than sports,” he said. “They are about strengthening the connections and communities that make Los Angeles so extraordinary.”
FIFA is no Taylor Swift, new data shows. Why the World Cup isn’t delivering a massive economic boom for Toronto
https://www.thestar.com/business/fifa-is-no-taylor-swift-new-data-shows-why-the-world-cup-isnt-delivering-a-massive-economic-boom-for-toronto/article_51030276-2fcb-4c5c-8e5a-ec16f1cbb267.html
The World Cup has been a bit of a miss for Toronto hotels. For other parts of the economy? It’s no Taylor Swift.
According to data released this week by payments processing giant Moneris, spending by international tourists in the Toronto area has been up in several key categories since the World Cup kicked off, but total spending by locals, domestic tourists and international tourist, has only been marginally higher than the rate of inflation.
According to economist Victor Matheson, who specializes in studying the economic and business impact of the sports industry, there’s only one explanation.
“You’ve displaced your regular visitors with foreign tourists,” said Matheson, a professor of economics at College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass.
That means, argued Matheson, that the economic impact of Toronto hosting six games in FIFA’s showcase event has been marginal at best.
“Your best case is that you displaced domestic tourism and business travelers to later in the year. Your worst case is that you displaced it, so overall spending is pretty much a wash, and an expensive one given how much Toronto and Vancouver are paying to host,” said Matheson.
The data provided by Moneris shows that from June 12 to June 26, total spending at Toronto bars and restaurants was up just three per cent over roughly the same time period a year ago (June 13 to 17, 2025). Spending by foreign tourists, or at least people with foreign-issued credit and debit cards, at those same bars and restaurants was up 34 per cent.
According to Moneris executive Sean McCormick, the overall impact of the World Cup in Toronto has paled in comparison to Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, which saw Swifties flooding to the city from across the country and around the world.
“During the Eras Tour, we saw 90 per cent increases on apparel, and big rises at bars and restaurants,” said McCormick, Moneris’s vice president of business development and data services. “Taylor Swift is a phenomenon. Panama vs. Ghana is not a phenomenon.”
Even though many downtown bars and restaurants have been packed while showing World Cup games, the head of Restaurants Canada said it's still not clear if this city being a host provided a significant bump. And on games days, it hurts some downtown spots, especially those which don't have a sporting focus.
“So many places close their offices on game days to avoid chaos for workers,” said Restaurants Canada CEO Kelly Higginson. “Restaurants in those neighbourhoods are really feeling it. They don’t have their usual traffic, and because they’re not the sports places, they’re not getting any soccer fans to make up for it.”
And places which are busy when games are on? They’d likely be busy no matter where the games were being played, Higginson argued.
Still, said sports economist Matheson, there’s still value in hosting a World Cup, even if the financial benefits are a little nebulous. Call it the happiness factor, said Matheson, a life-long soccer fan.
“My voice is still hoarse from cheering during that Algeria-Austria game. It was incredible,” said Matheson. “We do have some evidence these events make us happy. There’s just not much evidence they make us rich.”
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