Besides the games, which in total hosted more than 645,000 spectators, over 1 million attended fan events. Many watched in bars as well.
For the past month, you couldn’t miss soccer fans walking around the city wearing their favorite teams’ jerseys.
And according to the New York/New Jersey Host Committee, those fans spent $1.2 billion in June alone, generating a total economic impact of $2.1 billion. In that same time, the host committee says $228 million in tax revenue was generated as well.
“If you went to the stadiums, you could see that there was, a lot of movement, many sales, taxes collected," Alberto Munoz, who came from Spain and attended the finals, said. "So of course, every time, the economy moves.”
Besides the games, which in total hosted more than 645,000 spectators, over 1 million attended fan events. Many watched in bars as well. Others who watched at home say they saw tons of fans out on match days.
“I believe it. I mean, it's been busy. I remember the first day of the World Cup, there were tons of jerseys right around here," Alex Wolfson said. "They’ve been closing down this area every other weekend.”
“I kind of watch it all throughout the city," added soccer fan Jonathan DeVito. "I feel like you could really go anywhere and watch it. I watch in the Upper West Side a few times downtown at Sadie's in Financial District, and then in the West Village a few times.”
For those who were lucky enough to have game tickets, transportation seems to have been a success.
“I took the train. I took the bus. I did the whole thing. And then a third time, I actually took an Uber," said Angela Mariano, who went to three games. "It was great. Yeah, it was excellent.”
The shuttles took more than 116,000 fans over the eight games, with everyone leaving in less than three hours after the games.
While there were no major meltdowns on NJ Transit, the agency says FIFA did not give them the proper data, and had a little more than half the ridership that was predicted.
Hotels did not do as well as projected either. The Hotel Association of New York City says it projected a $300 million increase in room revenue based on FIFA’s projections, falling short by over $120 million.
But some World Cup hotel guests didn’t actually go to a game in person, like fan Miguel Lance, who came all the way from Spain.
“I wanted to go, but lots of money," said Lance, who watched at a bar instead.
NY1 has yet to get the total numbers in on spending and a breakdown of where those dollars were spent, covering New York and New Jersey, not just New York City.