The FIFA World Cup 2026™ is coming to Toronto with matches scheduled between June 12 and July 2, 2026 – and with soccer-mania about to descend on sixteen North American cities, restaurant operators have the opportunity to fill seats, build a following, and raise revenues.
In addition to the existing population, host cities are expecting anywhere from 650,000 to 4 million visitors, with many visitors staying for 12 days on average, and an anticipated spend of over $400 per day on dining, lodging, and local experiences. With so many people in the city, there is the potential for a huge impact on restaurants – if they get it right.
Here are some of the ways restaurant operators can plan ahead, efficiently manage, and execute effectively during the World Cup:
- While walk-ins are inevitable, encourage guests to book a reservation to help better manage inventory and scheduling. Sell tickets in advance to ensure that your restaurant is full, avoid long lines, and offer the best experience possible.
- Maximize all your usable space, including your patio. Create extra viewing stations where possible, install additional speakers, advertise an outdoor space that will attract guests. Making your patio accessible will allow you to better accommodate heavier traffic while also offering a spot for guests to enjoy the outdoors.
- Stock up on inventory like beer, nachos, chicken wings, and more. Typically, sports fans like easy finger foods, so creating themed combo platters can also help you increase cheque sizes while keeping it simpler for the kitchen.
- With labour shortages still a challenge, shifting to online ordering for off-premise dining can ease some of the load. In 2025, 32 per cent of Canadian operators implemented order-ahead and scheduled online ordering, and this is the perfect time to maximize those solutions. This technology offers info for the kitchen staff, helps free up some servers, and simplifies the process for your guests.
- Can you reach out to schools, corporate clients, and organizations that may be interested in catering for watch parties? You may be able to boost the bottom line with larger groups looking to enjoy the matches remotely.
- The guest experience is crucial, so create protocols that are simple to follow, train staff thoroughly, and ask for feedback from your teams for opportunities to improve service during this busy time.
- Pay attention to your online profile. Populate your website, update your Google listing, and post more on your restaurant’s social media. So many people will be searching for restaurants, you want to come up at the top of those searches. Don’t forget to leverage social media and your website for booking, ordering, marketing to reach an even broader audience.
- Promote everything FIFA on social media, your website, and with instore and exterior signage to ensure that guests know your restaurant is the spot to watch the matches. Share your events with sites that can help promote your celebrations by adding them to local listings and event calendars.
Sporting events like these offer restaurants the opportunity to significantly improve traffic and revenues, so create a strategy for success for this sporting season.
