A major sporting event brings thousands of extra mouths to feed. For local farmers, restaurants and food businesses, that can mean new customers and a chance to grow. For cities, it also means pressure on food supplies, deliveries, storage and waste services.
The challenge is to make the benefits last. How can cities turn the opportunities created by major events into lasting benefits for their food systems? Can the networks built to feed visitors also help feed residents better once the crowds have gone?
In my work with food businesses, visibility is not viability. Atlanta and Mexico City around the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup offer a starting point if we separate planned from delivered, and say where lasting-benefit evidence is still thin.
Opening the market to smaller businesses
An influx of visitors does not automatically translate into profits for local producers. Smaller businesses need access to selling opportunities, the capacity to deliver, and a realistic prospect of covering their costs.
Atlanta planned for access. In May 2026, Showcase Atlanta announced Global Grub Alley near the official Fan Festival, running for 16 days. After the tournament, it reported more than 1,900 small businesses onboarded to its Vendor Directory since January, more than 500 connected to vending or contracting opportunities, and 54 food trucks with nearly $250,000 in combined sales over those 16 days.
Those figures show activity and combined sales, not whether most vendors covered their costs. Early on, operators told Atlanta News First that crowds were not turning into customers. One said a roughly $400 daily operating cost had not been half-covered.
Outcomes were mixed
Mexico City’s Mundial Verde strategy, presented in April 2026, included plans to promote conservation-land products such as dehydrated nopal and honey through fan festivals, supermarkets and hotels. Official figures on sales, producer earnings or whether those channels continued are not yet available.
What does it take to turn visibility into viable business? Cities can start by engaging smaller suppliers early, making procurement requirements clear and offering contracts they can realistically fulfil.
The test should go beyond counting participants. Did vendors make money after fees, staffing and stock? Did producers gain repeat customers? Were new supply relationships maintained after the event? Public evidence on those points remains limited.
Managing demand without creating waste
Major events make food demand difficult to predict. Match schedules, weather and visitor movements can leave one vendor short of stock while another has surplus food.
In Atlanta, Second Helpings Atlanta recovered surplus food from Mercedes-Benz Stadium during the tournament through a partnership in place since 2017. The stadium and the nonprofit have published different recovery totals, so I will not treat one figure as definitive.
Surplus was recovered because collection, storage and redistribution were already routine, which is why such arrangements need to be ready before visitors arrive.
Mexico City’s ITACATE programme at the Central de Abasto wholesale market is a complementary everyday example. It recovers surplus produce for redistribution, including to community kitchens, as part of a longer circular-economy effort developed with the FAO.
Recovery is only part of the answer.
Better forecasting, storage and more flexible deliveries can prevent surplus in the first place. Cities can plan both prevention and recovery with organisers, suppliers and community organisations, then retain those arrangements for everyday use.
Turning temporary demand into regular markets
An event can generate a few weeks of exceptional sales. A stronger food economy depends on reliable customers throughout the year. Schools, hospitals, restaurants and other regular buyers offer potential markets for producers who scaled up for an event, if shared logistics and buyer relationships carry over.
That transition needs planning. Before the tournament ends, cities and their partners can identify which facilities and services remain useful, who will operate them and how running costs will be covered. Sustainable sourcing should also look beyond proximity to nutrition, seasonality, production practices, transport and waste.
Resilience depends on diverse suppliers and connections between urban, rural and wider markets.
Where a World Cup food legacy is hard to prove – vendor profitability, repeat contracts, Mexico City’s snack channels – the stronger evidence sits in everyday urban food systems: Atlanta’s stadium recovery route and Mexico City’s wholesale-market donations. If major events leave anything durable, it is likely to be stronger versions of these ordinary connections.
Measuring what remains
Cities need to assess outcomes as well as activity. The OECD’s 2023 guide, Impact indicators for culture, sports and business events, already recommends that hosts track the number and value of contracts awarded to local suppliers, SMEs and social enterprises, and their share of total contract value.
Applied to food systems, that approach could be complemented by vendor profitability, repeat contracts, food waste prevented and surplus safely redistributed. Tracking these after the event would distinguish a temporary boost from lasting improvement.
Three priorities follow for cities and regions:
- Make participation practical for smaller suppliers through early engagement, accessible procurement and shared logistics.
- Integrate sustainable sourcing and food waste prevention into event planning, with recovery partnerships ready before visitors arrive.
- Build a plan for what comes next, connecting producers to regular buyers and maintaining useful infrastructure and partnerships.
Atlanta and Mexico City offer opportunities to examine how these choices work in practice: which measures delivered results, where barriers remained, and what other cities can learn.
The final whistle ends the tournament. With deliberate planning, its benefits for the city’s food system can continue.
To learn more about the OECD’s work on related topics, see:
- The OECD Recommendation on Global Events and Local Development
- How to measure the impact of culture, sports and business events
- Impact indicators for culture, sports and business events
- The Legacy of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games
- Leveraging culture, sports and business events for local development: International lessons for the U.S.
