Chad Merrill said he wasn’t a soccer fan before the FIFA World Cup, but he enjoyed learning about the game from the local and international fans who came to the city for the tournament.
“To host it here was actually awesome and it was great,” said Merrill, manager at Inglewood’s 3rd and Out Sports Bar on Market Street. “We had people from everywhere and the vibe was outstanding!”
On top of that, Merrill estimated the bar made 25-30% more than what they’d normally make on game days.
“We understood that we’re blocks away from SoFi Stadium and there was nothing but positivity from the World Cup,” Merrill said.
The sports bar’s boost in businesses wasn’t a one off, either. With so much hype around the World Cup, local businesses across LA expected to get an economic boost from fans coming out to watch matches. The tournament was projected to generate nearly $892 million in economic impact across LA County, with more than $515 million in direct visitor spending on hotels, restaurants, transportation and entertainment, according to LA’s World Cup website.
So now that the tournament is over, how well did the businesses do?
Restaurants and bars near SoFi Stadium said they saw packed houses during the World Cup.
Bars and restaurants in other parts of LA also saw some of their busiest days of the year during key games. For a Koreatown hotel operator, though, business was actually slower than normal. Taken together, businesses said the World Cup offered a valuable preview of the opportunities — and the problems the city still must solve — as the 2028 Olympics approach.
Foot traffic from SoFi helped Inglewood businesses
The influx of soccer fans transformed portions of downtown Inglewood into lively gathering spots, like The Wood Cup events held on Market Street.
Businesses along Market Street, like Merrill’s sports bar, benefited from visitors looking for food, drinks and entertainment before and after matches at nearby SoFi Stadium.
Every World Cup match felt like a cultural celebration for Saizana Evans, manager at The Nile Restaurant and Bar on Market Street.
“We tried to play music that catered to certain countries,” Evans said. “If we had Spain’s fans in here, we would play some Spanish music.”
Evans said they partnered with sponsors like Casamigos, Don Julio and Bud Light and estimated that sales were up 30-35% during the international soccer tournament.
“It was great. It did bring in a lot of foot traffic,” said Evans. “The World Cup was just another example of how big it can get with different countries coming over to support their team.”
Restaurants did well in Koreatown and Pico Union, hotels not so much
For restaurants in Koreatown and Pico Union, the World Cup brought a much needed economic boost to their businesses.
Local pupuseria Pulgarcito Family Restaurant in Pico Union saw an increase in customers and hours for workers.
“They were waiting for this for a long time, it was a big help for us,” employee Elizabeth Aguirre said.
Erik Avila, owner of Baja Cantina Sports Grill in Koreatown, said the World Cup helped many customers discover his business as a sports restaurant and it was the busiest they’ve been since starting seven years ago.
“It’s the most attention we’ve ever gotten, people kept calling,” said Avila.
While soccer fans may have visited restaurants in the area, Nojan Haddadi, operations manager of the H Hotel, said he thought the World Cup would bring in more visitors but business was slower than he expected.
“We were definitely expecting a lot more of an outcome for the World Cup being here,” Haddadi said. “But we’ve been super slow through the World Cup, and it’s been unfortunate.”
Haddadi told The LA Local he thinks the issues at MacArthur Park, which is a little over a mile away, may have deterred people from booking rooms at the H Hotel.
“It affiliates us to that area,” said Haddadi, who also serves on the Wilshire Center-Koreatown Neighborhood Council. “If you just take a walk around the area, you can see there’s trash everywhere. The unhoused problems are tough here. It’s like a ripple effect.”
To keep rooms filled, the 49-room boutique hotel lowered its nightly rates, which Haddadi said has significantly reduced monthly revenue.
“That could be a $30,000 to $40,000 difference at the end of the month, which is huge,” Haddadi said.
Businesses in Boyle Heights thrived during the games
Guillermo Piñon, co-owner of Distrito Catorce on East 1st Street, told The LA Local the World Cup saved his business and brought in a 200% increase in sales.
It was the best month of business the restaurant has seen since Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids picked up last June, which decreased foot traffic exponentially, Piñon said.
The raids caused him to close the business during lunch service, but throughout the World Cup, doors were open one hour before the starting game of the day and didn’t close until the last game was over.
“That’s more important than the financial stuff,” Piñon said. “We need the money to keep surviving, but we need each other more to grow and to just, you know, be better for each other.”
Thousands of people showed up on June 18 for the Mexico-Korea game on 1st Street, and dozens of people watched the games in their soccer jerseys, cheering loudly every time the national team scored a spectacular goal, or a “golazo.”
Now, the smells of rotting food that sometimes waft over from Lineage warehouse, have at times deterred business.
Still, Piñon is hopeful that the hype around soccer events and Distrito’s hospitality will keep customers coming back, especially for upcoming LAFC games.
“We really focused on giving people the best experience that we possibly could because we knew that if we did that as best as we could, we were going to have those people come back,” Piñon said.
Looking forward to 2028
With LA preparing to host the 2027 Super Bowl and the 2028 Olympic Games — both of which will be in or have presence around Inglewood — some businesses believe the World Cup served as a rehearsal for the upcoming global events.
Business owners along Inglewood’s Market Street say they are already making plans to expand operations, improve customer service and capitalize on what they expect will be another influx of international visitors when the Olympics arrive.
“I’d like to see a lot more businesses here on Market Street,” said Evans, who said The Nile Bar is a member of the Downtown Inglewood Association and the Inglewood Chamber of Commerce.
“We need to see things happening, businesses improving before 2028.”
