By Bruce Rutledge
NAP General Manager
Get ready, Seattle! The world is about to descend on our fair city this summer. From June 15 to July 6, Seattle will host six FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association)World Cup 2026™ matches at Lumen Field which has been renamed Seattle Stadium for the tourney.
Seattle, city of 800,000-plus, braces for 750,000 people to visit the region during the games. Visit Seattle, a nonprofit destination marketing organization, expects the games to bring a whopping $929 million in economic activity to King County and add almost 21,000 jobs. Of course, how much of that money stays in Seattle and does not get hoovered up by FIFA officials, is an open question. Revenue raised by ticket sales, for example, all goes to FIFA. Prices are typically several hundred dollars a seat.
Lumen Field will be called Seattle Stadium during the tournament.
Commuters who work in downtown Seattle will need to check road closures as Pioneer Square and Pike Place Market will be pedestrianized during the games, and large areas will be dedicated to fan zones. Expect commuting delays or work from home, if you can.
The local games start with Group Stage matches. Belgium plays Egypt on June 15. Four days later, on June 19, the Americans take on the Australians. On June 24, Boznia-Herzegovina plays Qatar and on June 26, Egypt squares off against Iran. Seattle will host one Round of 32 match on July 1 and a Round of 16 match on July 6 with teams to be determined.
Tickets are still available for some matches (go to fifa.com to get started) but even if you do not have a ticket, you can join in the fun all around the city. Viewing parties will be held at Seattle Center, Pacific Place, and Victory Hall across from the Mariners baseball stadium. There will also be events and displays at Waterfront Park. All these spaces will be free and open to the public.
The message board for the U.S. national team players at the Seattle Stadium is densely filled with messages by soccer fans.
Pacific Place in downtown Seattle has installed a four-story, high-resolution, LED screen to broadcast the games. The Seattle Center will feature large screens to watch the matches, beer gardens and live music. Victory Hall in SODO (South Of Downtown) will have a 23-foot screen for game viewing just minutes away from the actual matches across the street in the Seattle Stadium. In other words, for six weeks, Seattle will be soccer crazy.
That soccer-crazy mindset is likely to last well after the final Seattle match. Watch parties will follow the action as the number of competing teams drops to eight, four, two and finally one. If you are in the Chinatown-International District, for example, you can watch the quarterfinals in Hing Hay Park on July 10 and the finals at Theatre Off Jackson on July 19. After that, we can all go back to our regularly scheduled summer.
