How the World Cup Is Impacting the North American Touring Market
Categoria: Musica
With many major stadiums going dark due to the FIFA World Cup, touring professionals have needed to get creative with their summer routing.
Por Billboard | 17/06/2026
In 1994, the U.S. hosted the men’s FIFA World Cup, and 3.5 million fans gathered to watch the tournament. The games marked the most-attended FIFA World Cup ever, and this year the U.S. will become one of five nations to host a World Cup for a second time, with 2026 co-host Mexico holding its third. For the duration of the games, stadiums across North America are forced to go dark from 20 days before the first games through to the end of the World Cup on July 19. That means many stadiums in major markets, including Toronto, Mexico City, Atlanta, Boston, Los Angeles, New York City and San Francisco, are unable to host concerts for two months in the summer — normally prime outdoor concert time. Related See Billboard’s 11 Global World Cup Covers 'The Rocky Horror Picture Show' Coming to Las Vegas' Sphere Carly Pearce Signs With BBR Music Group/BMG Nashville “Initially, when the World Cup was announced a couple years ago and we started thinking about this summer, there was some trepidation,” UTA’s Jbeau Lewis , who books Bad Bunny and Karol G , tells Billboard . “The reality is that it’s become one of the biggest — if not the biggest — stadium tour summers ever.” This year, Bruno Mars , Karol G, Noah Kahan , Morgan Wallen and Ed Sheeran are among those performing in stadiums across North America. Kahan’s tour utilizes baseball stadiums, with dates at Fenway Park, Wrigley Field and Citi Field. Wallen’s stadium tour is hitting college football stadiums, with two dates at Michigan Stadium (a venue only utilized for a concert once before, when Zach Bryan performed there along with special guest John Mayer last September) and Clemson Memorial Stadium. In order to route around the cities where the games are being held, some artists are either beginning their runs in Europe and avoiding North America until the latter half of the summer or kicking off in the North American cities that aren’t hosting games. Sheeran’s upcoming tour takes the latter approach. The first half of his North American run lands in cities that aren’t hosting World Cup games: Nashville on June 20, Chicago on June 27, Denver on July 4 and Las Vegas on July 18. He’ll head to Levi’s Stadium near San Francisco on July 25, just six days after the World Cup ends. (Levi’s Stadium’s final World Cup game takes place on July 1). Related Sports DJ Explains How Playlists for the FIFA World Cup, the Olympics, NBA and NFL Are Made Mars kicked off his Live Nation-promoted The Romantic Tour in Las Vegas on April 10, landing in markets including Atlanta, Nashville, Detroit, Chicago and Toronto all before May 28, the cutoff date for World Cup venues. (Mars’ final tour date took place at Rogers Stadium in Toronto, while the World Cup is hosted at the city’s BMO Field). From June 18 through July 28, he’ll embark on his European run, returning to North America Aug. 21 through Oct. 17. BTS ’ ARIRANG tour (also promoted by Live Nation) started in Asia and moved through select No