Inside the $2 Billion Race to Ready World Cup 2026 Stadiums

Engineering News-Record · 1d ago

With the tournament in the rearview mirror, a look back shows just how much work went into prepping World Cup 2026's 16 host venues, with publicly reported renovation spending across the U.S., Mexico and Canada adding up to somewhere between $1.5 and $2 billion. Investments ranged wildly by market, from roughly $19 million in upgrades at Seattle's Lumen Field to reported figures near $300 million at Dallas's AT&T Stadium, covering everything from natural-grass pitches to new videoboards and broadcast infrastructure. Because the tournament leaned on existing stadiums rather than new construction, most of that spending is framed as a lasting upgrade for each building's next decade of use rather than a one-off tournament cost.