With World Cup 2018 drawing closer to a close, anticipation is reaching fever pitch as soccer fans across the world prepare for the final match on Sunday — will France rise as victoire or will Croatia bring home their 1st ever Cup? [UPDATE: Congratulations, France!]
The excitement and energy is already getting us looking 8 years ahead to 2026 and cheering on Team USA. By now you’ve heard the good news — the World Cup is coming to the United States again! North America—the United States, Canada, and Mexico—won the ‘United Bid’ to host the FIFA World Cup in 2026.
The 17 potential host cities in the US, (including San Francisco, Los Angeles, Denver, Miami, and Boston) will be cut down to just 10 and feature a total of 80 matches, with 10 played in Canada, 10 in Mexico and 60 in the United States. While initially announced as a possible host city, Salt Lake City did not make the list of final U.S. bid cities (which specifically included the University of Utah’s Rice-Eccles Stadium) due to the venue size.
While we may not have any goals scored on our home turf, many local sports luminaries are already predicting how World Cup 2026 could affect the Salt Lake economy and Utah real estate industry over the next 8 years.
After congratulating the successful United 2026 bid, Utah Sports Commission President/CEO Jeff Robbins highlighted the plethora of available world-class soccer-centric facilities already bustling in Utah, several of which remain under consideration in the United Bid book, with site decisions for games and other certified facilities anticipated to be awarded in 2020 or 2021.
“We look forward to working with the United team to further explore an opportunity for Utah to serve as one of the training sites to be used in 2026 with our partners Real Salt Lake,” said Robbins. “The Utah Sports Commission and the State of Utah are excited to play a part over the next eight years in preparation for what will be one of the most unforgettable events of this century.”
If awarded, it could mean a big disruption to the Utah real estate industry — and a significant growth driver across the region from which future generations will benefit ‘for decades to come.’ According to a U.S. ratings report on the 2018 World Cup’s impact on Russian economy, infrastructure, the creation of new jobs, a boost in tourism, a revenue increase in food, hotel, telecom and transport industries and upgraded airports supporting higher passenger flows will be impacted at national and local levels — not just in host cities.
The United 2026 Bid in North America is expected to generate more than $14 billion in revenue and $11 billion in profits for FIFA. In whatever capacity it serves, there’s a good chance Utah will feel an impact. With Salt Lake International Airport serving as a major hub, our state leading the nation as the fastest growing tech industry and world-class facilities in place to serve as training sites, we can brace ourselves for upcoming change. We’ve had some experience, though, serving as the host city to another major world sporting event before. We’ve got this!
What do you think? How do you foresee this event impacting our state?