2026 World Cup may lift Marriott, Flutter and Coca‑Cola shares

The 2026 FIFA World Cup begins Thursday in Mexico with an opening match between Mexico and South Africa and runs through July 19 across the United States, Canada and Mexico. FIFA and the World Trade Organization estimate the tournament could add about $41 billion to global GDP.

B. Riley projects roughly 13.1 million visitors will travel to host cities during the event and forecasts about 21.3 million hotel room nights booked via online travel platforms. Major hotel operators identified as beneficiaries include Marriott International, Hilton Worldwide and Hyatt Hotels. Marriott has indicated World Cup demand may extend into the third quarter. Airbnb forecasts hosts in New York‑New Jersey, Boston and Los Angeles among the largest earnings increases during the tournament.

Deutsche Bank factored a 50-to-75 basis-point lift in revenue per available room into its forecasts and pointed to hotel REITs with host-city exposure as potential beneficiaries, naming DiamondRock Hospitality, Host Hotels & Resorts, Park Hotels & Resorts and Ryman Hospitality Properties. Deutsche Bank’s data show DiamondRock has about 34% of revenue tied to host cities, Sunstone Hotel Investors about 23%, Host Hotels and Park Hotels about 21% each, and Ryman about 14%. The bank also identified rideshare companies Uber Technologies and Lyft as likely to see higher demand.

Macquarie projects global wagering on the World Cup could exceed $50 billion, up from more than $35 billion in 2022, and estimates the event might contribute roughly 2% to 5% growth in operator EBITDA in 2027 for firms with strong soccer audiences and international reach. Macquarie highlighted Flutter Entertainment, owner of FanDuel, for its global footprint. Deutsche Bank put U.S. World Cup sports-betting handle at about $3.3 billion under its base case, projecting FanDuel would account for roughly $1.3 billion and DraftKings about $1.1 billion, with BetMGM, Caesars and TheScoreBet adding smaller amounts.

Morgan Stanley named The Coca‑Cola Company its top beverage pick in early June and maintained an Overweight rating and an $89 price target, citing the company’s long-running FIFA sponsorship as a near-term catalyst. AInvest cautioned that sponsorship spending is already committed and that any incremental sales lift from a six-week tournament will be small compared with Coca‑Cola’s roughly $48 billion annual revenue, adding, “The sponsorship costs are already sunk. The incremental volume lift from a six-week tournament, even one hosted in North America, is a marginal contribution against a $48 billion revenue base. It is a catalyst for sentiment, not for fundamentals.”

Citi identified traditional grocery chains such as Albertsons and Kroger and mass retailers including Walmart and Target as likely to see higher household spending tied to the tournament. Restaurants and delivery-oriented chains flagged for potential demand increases include McDonald’s, Domino’s Pizza, Wingstop and Chipotle. Food distributors named as likely to handle higher volumes are Performance Food Group, US Foods and Sysco.

Analysts noted the tournament is the largest in World Cup history by geography and venue count and warned that gains will be concentrated in host cities and could be short-lived beyond the summer event.