The World Cup's financial impact on North Texas

WAXAHACHIE, Texas — Now that the decorations have been put away and the international visitors are back home, Texas is learning more about the major impact of the World Cup games after the event wrapped over the weekend.

Some businesses in Waxahachie not only cashed in on the international excitement but raised more than $2,500 for C.A.R.E. Services, an organization helping people in nearly two dozen cities and towns in Ellis County, thanks to the Waxahachie Giving Cup. The World Cup-themed fundraiser assigned a competing country to a local bar or restaurant as they hosted watch parties, food and drink specials and more.

“We serve every family and neighbor in Ellis County at no cost, twice per month, to be able to come and get fresh groceries, fresh produce, all the things needed for a family to be thriving during this time when food and groceries and gas and costs have just soared,” said Deidre Hamid, executive director at C.A.R.E. Services.

U.S. Census data from last year showed that over 200,000 people called Ellis County home. This is a growth of over 25% since 2020. The increase means more food demand, which is going to require more money.

“When we found out about the partnership with the Waxahachie Giving Cup, it was a Godsend. I was so grateful to the city to include us in such a huge event for North Central Texas,” said Hamid.

But the North Texas city that hosted World Cup games saw an even greater impact.

In June, the Arlington Convention and Visitors Bureau shared that hotels collected more than $31.5 million in revenue. That’s a nearly $8 million increase compared to the Nov. 2024 record of $23.6 million, set by three Dallas Cowboys home games and the Mike Tyson-Jake Paul fight.

There was a big push for public transportation with all the new visitors in Texas this summer.

The Dallas Morning News reported that the Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) received more than $20.5 million in federal and local grants to ensure the wheels kept chugging along smoothly.

“You know, your typical Cowboys game, you probably have less than 10,000 people taking public transportation to a game. Now you’re going to have somewhere between 25-40,000 people taking that,” said Andrew Giuliani with the White House Task Force in June.

This month, DART reported a 12.9% increase in ridership, touting the role public transit played.

Back in Waxahachie, even though the World Cup trophy is in Spain, Hamid made sure Brayden Garcia with Atkins Seafood, the restaurant that picked Spain as its Giving Cup country, got a trophy of their own.

Now, Hamid’s team prepares to use the Giving Cup money to continue to help feed their community.

“This is a way that we are able to be the hands and feet of Jesus, essentially. I love it,” said Hamid.

The City of Arlington said it will likely be around September before it gets the full data regarding the financial impact of the World Cup.

But the city said that each of the first six FIFA World Cup matches in Arlington generated between $18-$24 million in economic impact for the city.

Officials with the FIFA Fan Fest in Dallas also said they won’t have any numbers for economic impact until months from now.

It’s still too early to say how Texas beer sales performed as well, but citing the Beer Institute, the Dallas Morning News reported that “in the first four weeks of the World Cup, beer sales in bars, restaurants, stadiums and other venues increased by 14% in U.S. host cities compared to the same period last year.”

Spectrum News reached out to some North Texas breweries, and Michael Peticolas with Peticolas Brewing in Dallas said their taproom and distribution revenue were up almost 30%, which was a 35% increase compared to the same time frame last year.

It was the same story for Jaquval Gastropub and Brewery in Dallas’ Bishop Arts District. For in-house alcohol sales and wholesale distribution prior to the World Cup, they were in the mid-$30,000 range, but the World Cup brought them up into the low $40,000 range.