Fifa Usa: Kathryn Schloessman Questions 11 Cities Paying World Cup Costs
fifa usa is heading into 2026 with 11 U.S. host cities carrying many of the event’s local costs while FIFA keeps most of the revenue. Kathryn Schloessman put the issue bluntly at a meeting at SoFi Stadium near Los Angeles: "So, what exactly do we get out of this?"
The answer she got was simple, if not reassuring. A FIFA executive told the room, "Hosting this tournament will put your city on the map."
SoFi Stadium and the FIFA deal
The friction starts with the structure of the hosting agreement. The 2026 men's World Cup will be the first World Cup run by FIFA without a centralized local organizing committee, and the 11 U.S. host cities are responsible for transportation, safety and security costs beyond the stadium. That includes FIFA Fan Fest locations, airports and vehicles used in the competition.
FIFA, meanwhile, takes the vast majority of revenue from ticketing, media rights, sponsorship, concessions and parking. Schloessman, the CEO of the Los Angeles Sports & Entertainment Commission, raised her question during one of the get-to-know-you meetings FIFA held at SoFi Stadium near Los Angeles in the fall of 2021, after the United States, Mexico and Canada had already won hosting rights in 2018.
FIFA revenue and city costs
FIFA says the 2026 men's World Cup is expected to generate more than $11 billion in revenue, while its operating budget for the tournament is $2.7 billion. That gap leaves cities handling major spending around the event even as the governing body controls the largest income streams.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino drew a sharp line on where the money goes when he said at a pre-World Cup press conference on Wednesday, "every dollar goes back into football." He also said FIFA "has to invest in the countries no one else invests in: Sierra Leone, East Timor, Vanuatu…"
Mounting costs in U.S. cities
The financial strain has not stayed abstract. Host cities have seen slower travel and hotel uptake than expected, and the row over transit pricing has already affected preparations in New York/New Jersey and Boston. That leaves local organizers trying to sell an event that promises global attention while they absorb costs tied to moving fans, protecting sites and running the public-facing parts of the tournament.
FIFA has promoted a report claiming $30.5 billion in economic impact would be injected into the U.S. economy, but the softer-than-expected travel and hotel numbers have made some host cities question how much of that promise will reach them. For the cities paying the bills, the real scoreboard starts with transportation, security and crowd management, not the revenue FIFA keeps.
