Small Businesses are Staffing Up for the FIFA World Cup 2026

Eleven U.S. cities will host FIFA World Cup matches this month and 1.24 million people are expected to visit the U.S. to watch them. Gusto data show that small food service, entertainment and construction businesses in host stadium neighborhoods accelerated their hiring in preparation in May 2026.

We analyzed hiring trends in the Food &   Beverage, Entertainment & Recreation, and Construction sectors, comparing the hiring rates in May 2025 and May 2026 in the host metro areas and in the host stadiums’ neighborhoods (defined as ZIP codes). Nationwide, hiring rates in these sectors slowed from May 2025 to May 2026 amid softer tourism spending, but there is a clear pattern where neighborhoods with a host stadium did better than their metro areas in hiring.

Not all host stadiums have nearby amenities, but Gusto data allow us to compare hiring rates in these sectors for about half of the host metros.

• Entertainment & Recreation net hiring is up an average of 14.6% near stadiums compared to being down 3.8% across several host site metros. In five of the six host cities we were able to explore, net hire rates in the neighborhood around the host stadiums were better than the larger metro area.

• Food & Beverage net hiring is up an average of 3.5% near stadiums compared to being down 1.3% across several host site metros. In six of the seven host cities we were able to explore, net hiring in the stadium neighborhoods outpaced the full city. 

• Construction net hiring is up an average of 3.8% near stadiums compared to being down 1.4% across several host site metros. In four of the five host cities where we were able to explore, the neighborhood around the host stadiums saw better hiring rates than the metro area.

We observed similar, though slightly more muted, hiring trends in these neighborhoods in March and April 2026 suggesting perhaps that small businesses near host stadiums began staffing up even prior to May. 

Entertainment hiring is significantly up in stadium neighborhoods compared to May 2025

Despite the action of the matches throughout the U.S., many visitors will be seeking activities for when they’re not cheering their home teams. According to Gusto data, entertainment hiring in the neighborhoods of host stadiums is up an average of nearly 15% compared to May 2025. Seattle and Philadelphia led the way, with massive increases of over 40% compared to the same period last year.

Food service hiring is up near host stadiums

The nearly 1.24 million visitors expected to descend on U.S. cities this month will be in search of places to eat, gather, and catch matches to which they don’t have tickets. Small businesses in many stadium neighborhoods are preparing for these visitors by staffing up to manage an increase in demand. New York and Philadelphia are leading the way, with stadium net hiring by 18 percentage points and 17 percentage points, respectively.

Cities are building near host stadiums

New York and Seattle saw some of the largest increases in Construction hiring in May 2026 compared to May 2025. New York, in particular, saw hiring rates in the neighborhood around its host city 15 percentage points greater than the metro as a whole.

Host city details

Atlanta. Between May 2025 and May 2026 the net hire rate in the Atlanta metro area slowed from 1.9% to 0.6%. The slowdown was larger in the Food & Beverage sector, largely because a year ago hiring was still relatively high for these businesses. Across the Atlanta metro, Food & Beverage industry hiring slowed by 2.6 percentage points to 1.1%. In the neighborhood around Mercedes-Benz Stadium, temporarily rebranded as Atlanta Stadium, the net hiring rate has been steady over the past year. Rather than slow hiring like neighborhoods elsewhere in the metro, food service businesses around the stadium maintained hiring at the same rate as last year. Hiring in the entertainment businesses were also slightly elevated near the host stadium.  

Boston. Boston metro hiring rates remained strong during the first half of 2025 before dipping during the second half of the year. Net hiring rates in Construction, Food & Beverage, and Entertainment & Recreation are still lower than they were a year ago, but we see elevated hiring compared to late 2025 in these sectors. In particular, net hire rates in Food & Beverage increased from 0.8% in April to 4.7% in May 2026. In general, hire rates around Gillette Field, temporarily rebranded as Boston Stadium, have been stable even as Boston metro hiring slowed. 

Los Angeles. Hiring rates slowed across the Los Angeles metro area from 0.8% in May 2025 to 0.4% in May 2026, but they have rebounded during the first five months of this year – particularly in the Construction industry. The hiring rate in the Entertainment & Recreation sector in Los Angeles also slowed, by 0.4 percentage points to 1.1% between May 2025 and May 2026, but in the neighborhood that is home to SoFi Stadium (temporarily rebranded as Los Angeles Stadium) the net hire rate in the sector accelerated by 1.5 percentage points. 

New York City. After declining from November 2025 through February 2026, net hiring rates in the New York City metro have recovered sharply since March. May is typically the seasonal peak for hiring in the Big Apple, and hiring rates have been consistently strong since then in the Construction sector. This is particularly true in the neighborhood around MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, where the Construction industry hiring accelerated to 16.7% in May 2026 relative to a year earlier. By comparison, the Construction industry hiring rate slowed by 1.5 percentage points metro wide over the same period.

Philadelphia. Food & Beverage industry hiring has slowed sharply across the Philadelphia metro over the past year, declining from 3.4% in May 2025 to 0.2% in May 2026. But the neighborhood around Lincoln Financial Field, temporarily rebranded as Philadelphia Stadium, has bucked the trend: The Food & Beverage industry net hire rate has accelerated to 7.1% in that neighborhood. 

San Francisco. Levi’s Stadium, temporarily rebranded as San Francisco Bay Area Stadium, is 43 miles south of the city of San Francisco in the heart of Silicon Valley. It has fewer adjacent fan amenities compared to other FIFA 2026 host stadiums and hiring trends around the stadium reflect this distinction. Still, while Entertainment & Recreation net hire rates metro wide slowed by 2.7 percentage points to 1.5% metro wide between May 2025 and May 2026, in the neighborhood around the stadium they accelerated to 3.0% over the same period.

Seattle. The hiring rate has slowed sharply in the Seattle metro over the past three years, but the net hire rate in the Food & Beverage and Entertainment & Recreation industries surged in May 2026 touching 4.5% and 7.2% respectively. The Construction industry net hire rate has slowed metro-wide over the past year, but has held steady in the neighborhood around Lumen Field, temporarily rebranded as Seattle Stadium.