Raise your hand if you’re about to join the roughly one billion people around the world watching the World Cup Final!

Tickets for Sunday’s final between Argentina and Spain at MetLife Stadium are running from about $7,500 to over $69,000 on resale markets. Yikes! Smarter fans will be headed to friends’ houses and neighborhood watch parties to enjoy the game.

Economists watched what happened when the World Cup rolled through eleven American cities this summer: hospitality hiring spiked, visitor spending jumped double digits, and ranch dressing sales soared. Who knew that one of the biggest World Cup scores would come from packed bars full of strangers hugging over a soccer game?

The Economist ran a piece this week arguing that America makes it too hard to have fun. We ration liquor licenses, tangle permits in red tape, and last-call our nightlife into submission. Other countries treat their downtowns like infrastructure. We treat ours like a zoning violation.

But did you know that lively streets make cities better places to live? They attract talented young people who want careers and a social life, and all that foot traffic makes neighborhoods safer.

Fun, it turns out, is good for neighborhoods and good for the economy!

So, my economic advice to you this Sunday is to get out and have outrageous fun! Meet up with friends, cheer loudly – and if it works for you – hug a stranger!  

¡Vamos!
Barbara

July 19, 2026


Sources: “America should stop making it so hard to have fun” — The Economist | “World Cup final ticket prices” — USA Today

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