Early short-term rental (STR) booking data for the 2026 FIFA World Cup shows rapidly building demand across U.S. host cities, with bookings per property rising sharply year over year. However, the same data indicates shorter, match-driven travel patterns, meaning length-of-stay restrictions could prevent STR operators from capturing the full revenue opportunity.
Forward-looking analysis from global short-term rental analytics company Key Data shows that the strongest early spikes of direct STR bookings are concentrated in Boston, Kansas City, and Philadelphia. All data cited is sourced from Key Data’s internal analysis of direct short-term rental reservation activity across U.S. World Cup host markets as of January 25, 2026, using forward-looking booking and performance indicators. Year-on-year comparisons reflect changes in booking behavior during the World Cup event window (June 11 to July 19, 2026) compared with the same period last year.
In Boston, bookings per property are up 869 percent year on year during the event period, making it one of the sharpest increases among all World Cup cities tracked. Kansas City follows with a 606 percent increase, while Philadelphia is up 275 percent.
Demand is Rising, but Booking Behavior is Changing
While the booking lift points to a major opportunity for STR operators, the data shows that World Cup demand is arriving in a very different shape from a typical peak season. Across markets, travelers are booking shorter, more targeted stays tied closely to individual matches or small clusters of games, rather than extended leisure trips. That shift is pushing the average length of stay lower across markets, even as bookings and revenue climb.
In Boston, average stay length has fallen 44 percent year on year, from nearly seven nights to under four. Similar compression is visible across Dallas (–40 percent), Houston (–29 percent), and Philadelphia (–27 percent). Even traditionally longer-stay markets such as Miami and Los Angeles are seeing declines of 11 percent and 24 percent respectively.
This matters because many STR portfolios are still optimized for longer vacation-style stays. Minimum length-of-stay requirements, rigid weekend rules, and pricing strategies built around weeklong bookings can unintentionally filter out the exact type of traveler the World Cup is generating.
Key Data’s early indicators suggest the World Cup is behaving more like hotel-style demand: shorter trips, high turnover, and pricing power concentrated on key match nights rather than across full weeks.
For operators in high-spike cities like Boston, Kansas City, and Philadelphia, the World Cup is likely to deliver a series of short, intense booking spikes, and success may depend less on waiting for traditional peak-season compression and more on structural readiness.
Melanie Brown, VP data analytics and insights at Key Data, said: “World Cup demand is rising, but not in the typical short-term rental peak-season patterns. We’re seeing bookings surge across host cities, but stays are getting shorter and more tightly clustered around match dates. For operators, that creates a significant opportunity, but only if pricing and length-of-stay strategies are aligned with this kind of high-intensity, short-duration demand.”
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