Wharton finance professor Kevin Kaiser was new to Philadelphia when the Eagles won their first Super Bowl in 2018, and he remembers heading downtown to watch the parade. More than a million raucous revelers gathered in freezing temperatures to cheer the team’s long-awaited victory. “I got to see firsthand how Philadelphia handles a massive sporting event and a celebration of a million people — and it was astonishing,” said Kaiser, who joined the street party again when the Eagles won a second time in 2024. The city’s ability to accommodate major events has been tried and tested, but perhaps never like this year. By the end of 2026, Philadelphia and its suburbs will have hosted NCAA March Madness, the PGA Championship, the Major League Baseball All-Star Game, six FIFA World Cup matches, and a yearlong celebration of America’s 250th birthday. It’s a lot, even for Philly. But Kaiser is confident. “Philadelphia has what it takes to host the world, and they’ve been very good at it for a long time,” Kaiser said. The professor moderated a recent panel convened by the Wharton Sports Analytics and Business Initiative. Titled “The Economics of Hosting the World: How Sports Operate as a Local Growth Engine,” the panel featured three expert guests: Tim McDermott is president of the Philadelphia Union, the city’s Major League Soccer franchise; Angela Val is president and CEO of Visit Philadelphia, the city’s tourism marketing agency; and Larry Needle is executive director of PHL Sports, a division of the Philadelphia Convention & Visitors Bureau. Turning FIFA Fans Into Philly Fans The FIFA matches begin June 14 and are expected to draw more than 500,000 visitors to the City of Brotherly Love. Kaiser’s first question to the panelists was, “What will success look like?” Their answers described a broad strategy, with