The 2026 World Cup is six months away, and with matchups for Dallas-Fort Worth’s five group stage games set, fans are booking their stays in North Texas.
The local Airbnb market was already simmering in the days leading up to the World Cup draw last Friday, and demand nearly doubled after the fact, according to Dec. 10 data from short-term rental analytics provider AirDNA.
“This is something of an unprecedented event. This is probably the biggest short-term rental event that’s happened in the United States, period,” said Bram Gallagher, AirDNA’s director of economics, of the World Cup.
The most in-demand day in North Texas is June 17, when AT&T Stadium (temporarily Dallas Stadium) will host England and Croatia at 3 p.m. Wednesday. The night before the game is the second most in-demand day.
Demand for each day has surpassed 1,000 bookings, and occupancy sits at 14%, meaning about one-seventh of local Airbnbs are already booked for those days.
Gallagher explained that while they won’t have visitors’ location data until after the World Cup, signs point to bookings coming from far and wide. Since so many bookings came in after the draw, they appear to be reacting to particular games. The other likely visitors — North Americans agnostic to matchups who simply want to see a World Cup game while it’s convenient — probably wouldn’t book so early and in such large numbers.
In terms of courting international travelers, Dallas drew a good hand when the group stage schedule was announced Saturday. Two games feature defending champion Argentina, the home country of soccer icon Lionel Messi. According to AirDNA, more Argentinians booked short-term rental stays during past World Cups than any country outside North America.
Fans of England and Croatia are also unsurprisingly avid, leading to demand for June 16 and 17 Airbnbs. England is the fourth-ranked FIFA team entering the tournament, and soccer’s immense popularity there (80% of U.K. sports fans say they follow soccer, a 50-point lead over any other sport, per Statista) is supported by the English Premier League.
Croatia enters as the 10th-ranked FIFA team, and finished as World Cup runners-up in 2018, beating England in the semifinals. As such, England vs. Croatia is one of the most hotly anticipated matches of the group stage.
Outside of soccer, England shares a language with the U.S., easing travel, and is a relatively short flight across the pond. Both the U.K. and Croatia are part of the Department of Homeland Security’s Visa Waiver Program.
Still, while demand has surged, local Airbnb prices have held steady from what they were pre-draw, even with marquee matchups like England-Croatia on the schedule.
For one, prices for available Airbnbs before the draw were already around $400 a night, a premium on prices for the same days last summer. With supply being elastic as new property owners list their homes, short-term rental operators have to stay competitive.
“Dallas and Fort Worth are, of course, well-stocked with hotel rooms, as well. So I think that short-term rental operators have to be very conscious of that,” Gallagher added.
During the lead-up to the UEFA European Football Championship, AirDNA’s data found that prices for Airbnbs stayed relatively stable until right before the tournament, when they spiked. Stays for the World Cup may behave the same way.
Occupancy during the European tournament hit 50% — when it would be prudent to book a stay ASAP — about three months before the start of the tournament. By a month out, Airbnbs were, for all intents and purposes, full, and only the most expensive listings were still available for last-minute bookings.
With demand for World Cup stays already surging, local Airbnbs could fill up even sooner, and prices are unlikely to drop.
“The draw was pretty positive for Dallas-Fort Worth,” Gallagher said. “There’d be no reason to mark it down.”
