EVERETT—The Economic Alliance Snohomish County (EASC) held an interactive planning session in collaboration with the Snohomish County Sports Commission on Tuesday, January 21, to discuss how to maximize economic and community benefits during the 2026 FIFA World Cup – which will take place next year from June 11 through July 19.
Seattle, and its surrounding metro area, will be one of 16 U.S. cities to host this momentous sporting event which broke records in viewership in 2022 at over 5 billion – more than half of the global population. Other U.S. hosting cities include Los Angeles, San Francisco, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Atlanta, Boston, Miami, New York, and Philadelphia as well as Vancouver and Toronto in Canada and Guadalajara, Mexico City, and Monterrey in Mexico.
In just 505 days the 2026 FIFA World Cup will feature 106 matches across 48 teams which is an increase from when the tournament took place in Qatar in 2022 with 32 teams. It’s estimated that 50% of fans visiting Seattle during the event will be coming from abroad.
Guest speakers at Tuesday’s event included Tammy Dunn, Executive Director, Snohomish County Sports Commission, Dylan Ordoñez, Director of Government and Community Affairs for Seattle FIFA World Cup 26 (SeattleFWC26), Juan Higuera, Executive Strategic Advisor for Sound Transit, Tyler Chism, Placemaking Program Manager for the City of Everett, and J.Z. Golden, Legislative Director for the Office of Congressman Rick Larsen (WA-02).
On January 14, 2025, local organizing committee SeattleFWC26 announced the City of Everett is one of nine official Fan Zones of the event to ensure as many Washingtonians can participate in the event as possible. Other local Fan Zones include Bellingham, Bremerton, Olympia, Tri-Cities, Spokane, Tacoma, Vancouver, and Yakima.
Ordoñez was first to speak Tuesday explaining some of the work his organization has done to prepare Snohomish County, and other designated fan zones across the state, for success.
“Not everybody’s going to be able to get to Lumen Field, not everybody’s going to be able to get to Seattle Center for our Fan Celebration so we want to make sure that we’re providing as much opportunity as possible for the people of this state to feel a part of this event, to feel like they are a part of World Cup 2026,” Dylan Ordoñez, Director of Government and Community Affairs for Seattle FIFA World Cup 26 said.
It’s estimated that Seattle being a host city will have a total economic impact of $929 million to the region supporting nearly 21,000 jobs. Ordoñez mentioned Tuesday that World Cup fans are different in that they travel to a host city to immerse themselves in the culture, meaning they won’t be returning home after a single event, like one would a “Taylor Swift concert” or “Seahawks game.” In fact traditionally half of those who travel to a host city do not even hold tickets to an event. This is is projected to lead to $106.5 million in tax revenue for the state, he said.
The SeattleFWC26 has prepared a small business readiness toolkit to prepare businesses statewide for the boom in volume including training and marketing workshops as well as small business grants which will be distributed through existing mechanisms if the legislature approves the funding this session.
To prevent and mitigate abuse of workers, as is sometimes the case with mega-events, SeattleFWC26 has signed a Labor Harmony Agreement with Lumen Field, as well as a Labor Agreement with Seattle Center for the Fan Celebration. SeattleFWC26 is continuing to work on recruiting for high demand event-related jobs.
As for transportation, Juan Higuera spoke on behalf of Sound Transit to discuss what the transportation agency is doing to prepare for the roughly a quarter-of-a-million people who are expected to visit the Greater Seattle area for the World Cup next year.
Sound Transit expects the Link light rail 1 line (which currently runs from Angle Lake to Lynnwood) will have expanded to Federal Way by the time the World Cup comes to Washington, as well as expanding the 2 line (which runs over Lake Washington to Bellevue and Redmond) also to Lynnwood by that time. The Sounder will also be supporting the light rail with 13 round trips on the south line and 4 round trips on the north line.
The transportation agency will be looking more into Express bus service changes as light rail extensions open to ensure connectivity and transfer services. Sound Transit hopes to begin testing and piloting programs this year to prepare for next year’s event.
“Obviously the whole part of this plan is moving passengers efficiently and effectively so safety and security is a big part of that. Crowd control will be huge,” Higuera added.
Tyler Chism with the City of Everett was next to speak on how the City will be doing their part in preparing for the World Cup 26, as an official destination for fans.
“We’re building a winning team and game plan so that when World Cup is here we can absolutely nail it,” said Chism.
The City of Everett, Chism added, hopes to utilize its location between two host cities – Seattle and Vancouver – as well as it being an official fan city, to grow a lasting soccer culture through partnerships and programs to foster soccer traditions well beyond 2026, spread economic and community benefits across the city, support and grow youth soccer programs, and engage Everett’s diverse cultures.
The City’s next steps are to assemble a county-wide team which will engage with the community to hear what they want to see, and what they don’t want to see, then use that feedback to put together a game plan which will consider everything from hospitality; to infrastructure.
Residents can get involved in the formation of this game plan by visiting the Sports Commission’s and City of Everett’s website, participate in forums and surveys, and bring their own ideas to the mix by email Chism at: tchism@Everett.wa.gov
J.Z. Golden with Congressman Rick Larsen’s Office spoke on behalf of Larsen, who was in the midst of returning to our nation’s capitol from Washington State, concerning what Congress is doing to prepare for the World Cup.
Rep. Larsen, as the co-chair of the Bipartisan Congressional Soccer Caucus, has been working on promoting soccer as a sport in region’s of the nation where it’s not quite as big as the Pacific Northwest even predating the announcement that Seattle would be a host city.
Last legislative session Larsen helped pass a commemorative coin bill which will not only be valuable to collectors but also help raise money for legacy programs such as Youth Sporting. That bill passed unanimously and was signed into law by President Joe Biden.
Currently Larsen’s office is working on appropriations in cooperation with host cities, requesting $625 million to support not only host cities but cities like Everett who will be hosting important Wold Cup-centered events. His office is also continuing to work on efficient visa processing (currently Columbia, for example, has a 700 day wait time for a short term visa for the U.S. which could be a problem for an event taking place in 500 days), security, and country-specific issues.
Seattle is just one of two host cities to be guaranteed a United States Men’s National Team match on Juneteenth, the other being Los Angeles. Proposed WA team base camps include the Sounder’s Clubhouse and Gonzaga University.
Seattle will be hosting six matches on June 15, June 19, June 24, June 26, July 1, and July 6. These are projected to have approximately $2 billion people tuning in setting the region up for spotlight on the world stage.
Author: Kienan Briscoe
