How the World Cup is affecting American retail brands
Between June 11 and 21, 2026 — the first 11 days of the FIFA World Cup — car trips to 10,548 retail markets within 10 miles of host stadiums grew +18.9% year-over-year, compared to +16.7% nationally.
That’s a measurable World Cup premium of +2.2 percentage points — consistent across grocery, restaurants, hotels, and retail.
10,548 retail markets within 10mi of stadiums show +18.9% YoY growth during the match period — +2.2pp above national average.
1,674 markets within 10mi
3 matches · USA vs Paraguay · Iran vs NZ · Switzerland vs Bosnia
413 markets within 10mi
Argentina vs Algeria (Jun 16)
747 markets within 10mi
Spain vs Cape Verde · Czechia vs South Africa
768 markets within 10mi
Qatar vs Switzerland (Jun 13)
1,155 markets within 10mi
Ivory Coast vs Ecuador (Jun 14)
2,366 markets — largest catchment
Opening Ceremony · Brazil vs Morocco · France vs Senegal
Lowest uplift at +12.1% — still positive, but 157 markets and smaller fixtures (Haiti vs Scotland, Iraq vs Norway).
Using foot traffic to weight each brand’s share of market-level car trips, we can isolate which categories are capturing the most uplift. Bars lead at +59.1% — a massive World Cup effect on drinking establishments. Furniture (+27.8%) and car rental (+20.3%) also stand out. Even everyday categories like grocery (+19.2%) and gas stations (+19.3%) are running above baseline.
Bars at +59.1% is the standout — fans are watching games at pubs and sports bars near stadiums. Car rental at +20.3% confirms the visitor travel signal. Grocery (+19.2%) outperforming restaurants (+18.4%) suggests the World Cup effect extends into weekly shopping, not just game-day dining.
We tracked foot traffic to 69 brands within 10 miles of each host stadium. For every match day, we compared visits to the same day-of-week last year — and measured the match-day lift: how much better (or worse) brands perform on game days vs non-match days at the same location.
All comparisons: same-store panels, DOW-aligned (Jun 11–21 2026 vs Jun 12–22 2025). Data through Jun 21 — 4-day latency from observed signals.
These brands see the biggest uplift on days when the stadium near them hosts a game — compared to their own performance on non-match days.
Hooters sees the biggest match-day spike — visitors up +4.2% on game days vs -7.2% on non-match days, an 11.4 percentage point swing. Academy Sports + Outdoors surges +8.9% on match days as fans buy kits and gear. Walmart flips from -1.1% to +0.7% — fans stocking up before kick-off.
For several brands, the day before a match is stronger than match day itself. Hertz peaks at +3.3% the day before (visitors arriving). McDonald’s hits +2.2% pre-match but drops to -0.7% on game day. Enterprise: +3.8% day before vs +2.7% match day.
The real commercial window isn’t the 90 minutes of the match — it’s the 24–48 hours of build-up.
| Brand | Day Before | Match Day | Day After | Non-Match |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hertz | +3.3% | +2.8% | +1.8% | +1.2% |
| Enterprise | +3.8% | +2.7% | +1.6% | +2.6% |
| McDonald’s | +2.2% | -0.7% | +0.7% | +1.2% |
| Walmart | +0.8% | +0.7% | +0.9% | -1.1% |
| Academy Sports | -1.5% | +8.9% | +1.6% | -1.3% |
| Hooters | -6.1% | +4.2% | -0.2% | -7.2% |
Adidas is up across every day of the tournament window — but the match-day lift is actually negative. On match days near stadiums: +6.8%. On non-match days: +16.6%. The day after a match: +15.7%.
This isn’t a stadium-proximity story. It’s a sustained national brand halo. Kit demand is rising everywhere, every day. Nike, meanwhile, is down -9.6% on match days and -10.3% on non-match days — declining regardless.
| Brand | Match Day | Day Before | Day After | Non-Match |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adidas | +6.8% | +9.2% | +15.7% | +16.6% |
| Nike | -9.6% | -10.0% | -11.2% | -10.3% |
| Foot Locker | -1.4% | -1.1% | -3.3% | -2.3% |
| Under Armour | -19.3% | -14.3% | -7.7% | -11.6% |
Adidas +6.8% vs Nike -9.6% on match days. A 16.4 percentage point gap. But Adidas is even stronger on non-match days (+16.6%) — the World Cup isn’t boosting Adidas at the stadium. It’s boosting Adidas everywhere.
By weighting car trips by each brand’s foot traffic share of its market, we can attribute the World Cup uplift to 3,630 individual brands near stadiums. Here are the top 20 by attributed trips.
| # | Brand | YoY | POIs | Attr. Trips |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dunkin’ | +18.5% | 552 | 321,334 |
| 2 | Starbucks | +19.3% | 735 | 307,223 |
| 3 | McDonald’s | +20.2% | 392 | 235,235 |
| 4 | Subway | +17.1% | 491 | 230,329 |
| 5 | Chevron | +19.8% | 283 | 147,263 |
| 6 | CVS | +18.3% | 341 | 145,400 |
| 7 | Walmart | +19.3% | 65 | 142,260 |
| 8 | Shell | +19.9% | 446 | 134,522 |
| 9 | Chipotle | +20.8% | 212 | 134,316 |
| 10 | Taco Bell | +21.5% | 232 | 124,153 |
| 11 | Domino’s | +19.6% | 209 | 117,603 |
| 12 | 7-Eleven | +23.5% | 434 | 113,793 |
| 13 | Chick-fil-A | +21.9% | 130 | 102,347 |
| 14 | Walgreens | +20.3% | 229 | 99,610 |
| 15 | Target | +18.7% | 86 | 91,595 |
| 16 | Burger King | +19.4% | 169 | 85,331 |
| 17 | Wendy’s | +16.9% | 148 | 82,705 |
| 18 | The Home Depot | +20.1% | 63 | 73,065 |
| 19 | Popeyes | +19.0% | 150 | 69,478 |
| 20 | Whole Foods | +18.3% | 56 | 62,312 |
Attributed trips = market-level car trips × brand’s foot traffic share of that market. 3,630 brands tracked across 7,959 markets within 10mi of host stadiums.
That’s 13,468,412 car trips to retail markets near host stadiums in just 11 days — up from 11,324,038 in the same period last year. The World Cup is a sustained economic engine, not a one-day event.
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