The World Cup boosts consumer spending in participating cities, says Bank of America

The World Cup is helping to boost consumer spending in the US in June, with participating cities seeing significant gains, according to new data from Bank of America.

The Bank of America Institute found that consumer spending using credit and debit cards rose 6.3% from a year ago in June — the strongest growth in four years — based on internal card data from the bank. That growth was largely driven by spending in his view amid falling fuel prices, as total spending on cards was up 5.6% excluding fuel.

The firm's analysis showed that the start of the FIFA World Cup 2026 on June 11 helped raise consumer spending in the month compared to the previous period.

“The World Cup had a big boost to consumer spending in June,” Joe Wadford, an economist at the Bank of America Institute, told FOX Business. “Bank of America card spending showed healthy growth toward the end of the month, due in part to World Cup promotions.”

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Looking at card use since the start of the tournament, data from the Bank of America Institute shows higher spending by consumers, especially in restaurants and bars, which may have been caused by the World Cup. Some of the gains could be due to an online promotion in late June, but it happened in July of last year, and thus increased year-over-year comparisons, the company noted.

The analysis compared brick-and-mortar spending in World Cup host cities based on zip codes to spending in other parts of the US, finding that some of the increase was concentrated in the communities where the games were played. Restaurants saw consumer spending increase by 2 percent in host cities, while it was flat in all other cities during that period.

“World Cup host cities have seen a significant increase in brick and mortar costs, especially compared to the rest of the US,” said Wadford.

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Fans in a bar in New York react to a goal in the match between France and Morocco. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

Sales data excluding restaurants also showed gains in stores in participating cities after the start of the World Cup, while non-restaurant retailers across the board saw slower spending growth when the tournament began.

“From packed stadiums to busy restaurants, the World Cup has created economic turmoil. But two of the biggest beneficiaries of the World Cup have been local merchants and restaurants,” said Wadford.

“For me, this is a very good story, as it suggests that a large part of the money generated by the World Cup stays in the community.”

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Scotland fans in the famous Army Tartan at a bar in Miami. (Photos by Ryan McDougall/PA via Getty Images)

A Bank of America Institute analysis also looked at the same internal card data by income level, finding that low-income households in particular increased spending on local businesses in their host cities, while higher-income households decreased their spending slightly.

Additionally, all leading teams have increased their spending on brick-and-mortar restaurants compared to the period before the World Cup and the time it is scheduled to start.

“In fact, low-income families have given a big boost to spending on the World Cup. Part of this is because low-income families are changing, and they may be the first to celebrate the event,” explained Wadford.

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“But some of the improvement is due to this broader story of economic development for low-income families. For example, we are seeing a stronger labor market and higher wage growth, which is helping to increase spending for low-income families,” he added.