Cabbagetown resident Nadia Giordani has an eco-friendly tiny home in her backyard that she rents out on short-term rental platform Airbnb. Giordani plans to open the booking window for her tiny home during the 2026 FIFA World Cup in Atlanta, when the city will host eight matches in June and July — and she is expecting high demand.
Airbnb is predicting about 6,000 guests will stay with local hosts during the World Cup, representing about 45,000 guest nights, according to a study Deloitte completed for Airbnb. The study assumes 216,000 visitors will come to Atlanta for the global soccer event, though some projections anticipate as many as 500,000 tourists. Local hosts like Giordani could earn an average of $3,700 over the course of the World Cup events in Atlanta, per the Deloitte study.
Metro Atlanta short-term rentals are already filling up, according to analytics firm AirDNA, which tracks listings across Airbnb, Vrbo, Expedia and Booking.com. As of November, metro Atlanta had more than 20,000 individual listings — a number that could grow as residents who don't typically host consider renting out their homes during the tournament.
Booking activity picked up sharply after the World Cup draw revealed group stage matchups. For the first group match at Mercedes-Benz Stadium — Spain versus Cabo Verde on June 15 — about 11% of available short-term rentals in metro Atlanta were already booked at an average nightly rate of $214. For the semifinal on July 15, about 10% were booked at $230 per night. Units still available during the World Cup are now priced at an average of around $300 per night, a rate AirDNA expects to rise.
"Atlanta has an exceptionally short lead time for short-term rentals of around 20 to 25 days," said Bram Gallagher, director of economics and forecasting for AirDNA. "Seeing people book this early is definitely unusual."
Source: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution