President Donald Trump signed into law his domestic policy bill Friday, and it includes $1.6 billion in spending around the 2026 World Cup and 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
Both chambers of Congress spent recent weeks in intense, prolonged debates over Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which increases defense and immigration enforcement spending while cutting Medicaid and food assistance programs. The bill finally cleared a vote in the House on Thursday and was signed by the president the next day.
Inside the bill’s section about Homeland Security grants are $625 million in federal funding for “security and other costs” related to the World Cup and $1 billion for “security, planning, and other costs” related to the Olympic Games. The host committees of the 11 cities staging the World Cup next summer have lobbied the federal government for the funds to help with security, which is one of the most expensive elements of hosting a major sporting event. Each World Cup game is anticipated to require Super Bowl-level security needs, which usually costs several million dollars. Of the 104 games in the tournament, the U.S. will host 78 of them, with the rest split between Mexico and Canada.
U.S. host sites are Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Seattle, and the Bay Area. The semifinals will take place in Atlanta and Dallas, the third-place game is scheduled for Miami, and the final will be in New Jersey.
The news is a welcome sign for the San Francisco 49ers, who have agreed to shoulder any additional costs that the Bay Area Host Committee, founded by the football team in 2022, fails to raise through corporate sponsorships and state funding. California recently committed $10 million to the World Cup host committees of Los Angeles and the Bay Area in its most recent budget finalized at the end of last month,
An even split of the World Cup funding would see $56.8 million go to each city. But similar to the California split between Los Angeles and the Bay Area, some cities are hosting a larger number of matches and more consequential games than others. Dallas will host the most matches with nine including a semifinal, compared to the Bay Arena with six fixtures that don’t include anything past the Round of 32. Dallas, Los Angeles, New Jersey, and Atlanta could take more of the pot than other cities, if divided by hosting responsibilities.
The Trump administration established a task force in March to assist with the 2025 Club World Cup and next year’s World Cup.
