The D.C. area may not be an official part of the World Cup this summer, but as games begin, there are plenty of local venues vying to act as unofficial hosts.
The District’s diehards can still travel to Philadelphia, Boston or even farther afield to catch a match. But with tickets alone going for hundreds of dollars, fans who have to stay closer to home will be well served by the area’s bars and event spaces.
“It’s sad for the nation’s capital that we’re not hosting a game here, but it is what it is,” said Patrick Doody, a manager at Ireland’s Four Courts in Arlington. “If you can’t afford that expensive ticket, you can come down to your neighborhood pub.”
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The sidelined setup may actually be preferable to hosting official games, which nets millions in tourism revenue but can run a city more than $100 million in infrastructure upgrades and public safety costs. Games would also funnel fans into larger venues rather than local joints, said Brandon Bayton, who directs strategy for Wunder Garten in Northeast D.C.
Instead, he said, “neighborhoods are actually working to bring their communities together.”
Local bars, many of which are partnering with embassy groups or sports organizations to host events, are seeing a surge in business around games. More than an hour before last week’s opening match between Mexico and South Africa, every table at Ireland’s Four Courts — recently dubbed “America’s best soccer bar” — was full. Camilo Zarate, a Colombia fan and recent D.C. transplant, said he and his friends arrived hours in advance to secure a table, as well as a discounted bucket of hard seltzers.
On the same afternoon, 200 people showed up to Penn Social to see Mexico earn a 2-0 win.
“Interest is through the roof,” said Rob Hess, Penn Social’s manager. “It provides a huge opportunity to expand hours of operation and host some really fun events.”
The local schedule also features “official” events. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser anointed D.C. United as hosts for the city’s designated watch parties. This weekend, the MLS team is hosting free screenings featuring food vendors, D.J. sets and youth soccer games.
Another official watch spot is a fan zone on the National Mall, co-hosted by FIFA and the Trump-created group Freedom 250. Some bar managers are worried that the fan zone could divert some business, but summer temperatures might keep fans indoors.
“I’m thinking of going,” said David Cuerva, a Guadalajara native who was watching Mexico at Ireland’s Four Courts last week. “But not today, it’s too hot.”
Cuerva is one of the lucky lottery winners who scored tickets to a game: He and his wife paid $800 for two tickets to see France play Norway in Boston next week. Cuerva, who has lived in Arlington for five years, was disappointed but not surprised to learn that D.C. wouldn’t host a game.
“We have a team, D.C. United, but still — I think there’s a lot of development [that has] to happen to really build a true soccer ambience,” Cuerva said.
Zarate and his friends tried to get tickets through the lottery, but lost out. Tickets on the secondary market were prohibitively expensive, he said, but as the first game kicked off, the group was happy to be camped out in the cool air-conditioning at their local bar.
“It’s sad. [D.C.] is one of the most beautiful cities in the U.S. and it has a mix of every single culture, so it would have been good,” said Zarate.
FIFA’s decision in 2022 to pass over D.C. and Baltimore’s joint bid to be host cities raised eyebrows: It’s only the third time in World Cup history a game has not been hosted in a country’s capital city.
“Of course, you would love to be a host city,” said Samantha Ward, a spokesperson for D.C. United. “We’re still very excited to play a part in this, and to be able to provide a platform to bring the game to the community of the DMV.”
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