Make money while enjoying the world cup

104 matches. 39 days. 16 host cities across the US, Canada, and Mexico. The biggest sporting event on earth is also one of the biggest economic opportunities most people will ignore.

Every four years, the World Cup moves billions of dollars. Flights, hotels, food, merchandise, services, experiences. Fans from 48 countries spend aggressively, and the money lands somewhere. The question is whether it lands in your pocket or walks straight past you.

2026 is no exception. Here are some tips on how to enjoy the 2026 world cup while earning from it.

01 Rent your home on Airbnb

Earn: $3,000–$5,700 Host cities only

This is the single biggest opportunity available to anyone who owns or rents a home in a host city. FIFA canceled hotel room blocks in several cities — creating a massive accommodation gap that short-term rentals are expected to fill. The math is unusually favorable.

Searches for World Cup host city stays are up 80% year over year. Nightly rates are projected to surge 90% above typical summer rates. If you live in Dallas, LA, New York, Atlanta, Boston, Seattle, Miami, or any other host city.

Hosts who list now, price correctly, and stay flexible on dates are positioned to earn more in six weeks than most make in a quarter from a rental.

02 Sell a local service to fans

Earn: variable Any host city

Millions of international visitors will arrive with money, excitement, and zero local knowledge. That gap is a service opportunity. Fans will need airport transfers, city tours, local food guides, translation help, ticket resale navigation, photography for social media, merchandise sourcing, and a dozen other things a local can provide and a visitor can't easily find.

The highest-margin plays are the ones that are hard to Uber-ify: guided neighborhood walks, curated restaurant bookings, private fan experience packages, city photography sessions. Price for the event, not for a regular Tuesday — these visitors are already spending $369 per day on food and activities alone according to Airbnb's own data.

"International fans have the budget. They just need someone who knows where things actually are."

03 Create World Cup content

Earn: ad revenue + brand deals

World Cup 2026 is being hosted in North America for the first time since 1994. The English-language content gap is enormous. Travel guides, city breakdowns, fan experience recaps, food and culture explainers, bracket analysis, team breakdowns. Brands with World Cup budgets are actively looking for creators in host cities who can produce authentic, local content.

You don't need to be a football expert. You need a phone, a point of view, and the ability to start before the crowds do. Channels that build an audience in the six weeks leading up to June 11 will be positioned to monetize heavily through the final on July 19.

04 Watch smarter and not at the stadium

Save: $500–$3,000

All 104 matches air live on FOX and FS1, with every game streaming in 4K on FOX One. The in-stadium experience during group stage is often worse than watching from a well-positioned bar or a great living room setup — you're far from the action, paying $20 for a beer, and fighting 80,000 people to get home. Tickets for marquee matches are running thousands of dollars on the secondary market.

Identify the two or three matches that genuinely matter to you and spend money there. For everything else, find the best watch party in your city , usually free, often electric, and a fraction of the cost of anything inside a stadium. The dopamine from a great group viewing environment rivals anything in-person, at zero premium.

05 Before anything — ask SHOULD I BUY THIS?

Every strategy in this article has one enemy: the moment of excitement. The World Cup jersey at halftime. The stadium ticket when your team makes the quarter-final. The Airbnb upgrade because the original place suddenly feels inadequate. The fourth round of drinks at a fan park in Dallas. The adrenaline is real. The regret is also real — and it arrives about 48 hours later.

This is exactly why the app SHOULD I BUY THIS.AI? exists. Before you spend anything during the next 39 days, run a 60-second audit. Type in the item. The price. Your savings goal. Your financial position. In under a minute, you get a buy or skip verdict powered by AI.

The World Cup is engineered for impulse. Every element of the tournament is designed to get you emotionally activated and financially unguarded. That's the environment every sponsor, vendor, and ticket reseller is counting on. visit www.shouldibuythis.ai to equip yourself with this app for healthy financial choices.

06 Leave the host city during peak weeks

Save: $200–$800 Host city residents

If you live in a host city and aren't capitalizing on the Airbnb opportunity, the second-best move is to leave during match days. Every hotel, restaurant, rideshare, and bar in a host city surges in price during game days. Groceries get harder to find. Traffic becomes a problem. Your regular life costs more just by proximity.

Consider a cheap trip somewhere quiet during your city's busiest match week — rent out your place if you can, or just escape the surge pricing and enjoy the tournament from somewhere less expensive. You come back when the crowds do.

The World Cup is already being called the largest economic event in North American history. Every dollar spent by the estimated 10 million international visitors ends up somewhere. Let it be your pocket.