SEATTLE — The World Cup matches in Seattle have significantly boosted public transit ridership and downtown business activity, though not all neighborhoods have experienced the same economic benefits, officials say.
Sound Transit reported that its light rail system recorded more than 5 million passengers in June, marking a period of record ridership.
This included five days where ridership exceeded 200,000 daily passengers, with more than 280,000 riders on June 19 during the USA game.
Sound Transit CEO Dow Constantine expressed satisfaction with the public transportation system’s performance during this period.
“The fact that we accomplished this and that we are able to move those volumes of people and get them where they need to be on time safely is really gratifying,” Constantine said.
Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson highlighted the positive impact of the World Cup on the state.
“And the verdict is crystal clear that Seattle and Washington State had Been the absolute best destination for the World Cup so far,” Ferguson said.
Mari Horita, the chair of the Downtown Association, confirmed the economic surge in the downtown core.
“With domestic visitor foot traffic alone exceeding 580,000 people and with local businesses recording record sales and beating the record sales from the 2023 Taylor Swift takeover of downtown,” Horita said.
Adam Trent, the general manager at Cone and Steiner General Store in Pioneer Square, provided a specific example of the business boom.
Trent noted that after the USA/Australia game on June 19, his business saw a significant increase in revenue.
“We did, I believe, have a third of our monthly revenue in one day, basically,” Trent said.
The demand was so high that Trent resorted to quickly serving customers directly from displays.
“Got to the point where I was actually pulling beer off the displays that we have and just handing it directly to customers,” he added.
However, Tuyen Than, representing the Chinatown-International District (CID) Business Improvement Area, pointed out that the economic benefits have not been evenly distributed across all Seattle neighborhoods.
“But I want to be honest, the economic benefits have not been equal across all of our neighborhoods,” Than said.
The CID area has only experienced a 10% increase in foot traffic following the World Cup games, according to Than. Than also highlighted that some local establishments in the CID, even those close to transit stations, saw more activity during other events.
“One of the bars that is close to the station and they mentioned that they actually saw more foot traffic on the NFC Championship game in January of this year than they did on the USA/Australia match,” Than explained.
Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson acknowledged these disparities and the city’s efforts to encourage visitors to explore beyond downtown.
“I think that we have definitely seen that a lot of energy was put into trying to make sure that as visitors are coming, they are venturing out of that downtown core,” Wilson said. “And so I think we are really going to be trying to draw some lessons from that moving forward because we really do as we think about how to revitalize our city, it has to happen in every neighborhood.”
The CID Business Improvement Area is seeking collaborative solutions to attract more visitors.
“We are open to any sort of partnership or creative ideas into the neighborhood,” Than said.
Two additional World Cup matches are scheduled for Seattle.
One match will take place on Wednesday, featuring Belgium against Senegal. A round of 16 game is set for Monday.