In June 2026, the United States will host the FIFA World Cup alongside Canada and Mexico.
This was announced with a lot of fanfare. After all, it’s the first time the men’s World Cup has been in North America since the United States hosted it in 1994.
However, in the years since the announcement, the mood surrounding the games has tempered. Just 32% of Americans say they plan to watch the World Cup—a number much smaller than the 69% and 58% who watched the 2026 Super Bowl and Winter Olympics, respectively.
Some people don’t even know these games are happening. In fact, a poll from late 2025 found that only 44% of Americans knew the World Cup was being hosted in their country.
Plus, there’s also been controversy, both with the games themselves and the countries hosting them. For example, FIFA announced that the World Cup games would have “hydration breaks”—which many fans believe is code for “ad breaks.” Not only that, but news stories about the Trump administration’s “immigration crackdown” have some soccer fans swearing off the American games altogether.
One consequence of this lack of interest is that World Cup hotel rooms are not selling as well as people thought. This has resulted in some pretty massive price drops, as one TikTok user recently noted in a video with over 27,000 views.
Why Is This Hotel Room So Much Cheaper Now?
In her video, TikTok user The Carolina Diamond (@thecarolinadiamond) says “people are not coming” to Atlanta for the World Cup.
“If you booked a hotel room, cancel and rebook it again,” she suggests.
The reason? According to the TikToker, she booked a Marriott hotel room in the city for June. The booking was made in February. At the time, the rate was around $1,050 for a single night.
When she booked the same room in May of this year, however, she was met with a different, substantially lower price.
“$383,” she states. The price shown is $383.76. “All because they were not getting the reservations they thought they would get.”
“People are not coming to the United States for the World Cup—because why would they?” she adds.
The TikToker closes by suggesting that, if possible, guests should attempt to get their room refunded, then rebook.
Are World Cup Hotel Rooms Really Not Selling?
There’s a decent amount of data to suggest that hotel bookings for the FIFA World Cup are not meeting expectations.
A May 2026 report from the American Hotel & Lodging Association found that 80% of hotels claimed their bookings were tracking below initial forecasts.
Atlanta, however, seems to be faring better than other cities. Around half of Atlanta-based hotels claimed their reservations said their bookings were in line with or exceeding expectations. This makes it the second most positive respondent city to the survey. The city where the most hotels are claiming their bookings are in line with or exceeding expectations is Miami, Florida.
Still, that doesn’t mean things are going great for Atlanta hotels. In response to this apparent lack of interest, many have cut rates, as experienced by the TikToker.
That said, hotel prices are dynamic, and there’s a possibility that prices will increase substantially as the date approaches. This means that it isn’t the best idea to just cancel your booking and hope the new price will be lower. Instead, map out new prices and, if they are substantially lower, confirm your refund before canceling.
In cases where prices have dropped dramatically, even a partial refund may result in you paying less money overall.
Did She Cancel Her Booking?
In an email to BroBible, the TikToker affirmed that she was able to cancel her booking and rebook at a lower rate.
When shopping around, she says this price reduction was a common sight.
“I did look around at other hotels, and it seemed that across-the-board pricing had dropped significantly,” the user wrote.
For other travelers in her situation, she suggested shopping around.
“What I would like other travelers to know is that in the metro Atlanta area, especially concentrated in downtown Atlanta where most events happen, that the average hotel room could be between $250-$400,” she shared. “I didn’t check Expedia or Hopper or any of those sites so they might also want to check the pricing on there as well.”
Commenters Have Theories
In the comments section, users shared their own thoughts on the topic, with some offering similar experiences.
“Soccer is not as popular in the United States as it is in the rest of the world,” a user said. “They are not going to attract crowds in the United States, like other sporting events like the Super Bowl or the Masters.”
“First of all, it’s very expensive for the biggest soccer fans who are the Europeans to come to the United States with airfare and accommodation so be dropping 15 to 20 K. Most people can’t afford that,” another noted. “Second, we are not the biggest soccer fans in the United States, the rest of the world is.”
“I had to cancel and rebook my room for a concert in ATL. The week of the total price went down by $200,” a third claimed.
@thecarolinadiamond #greenscreen Atlanta hotels FAFO people are not coming to the World Cup ! #worldcup #fafo #atlanta
BroBible reached out to Marriott via email.