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All week we've brought you news and information about how Seattle has been preparing for the FIFA Men's World Cup.

But will our region feel a long term effect from the games?

Venice Buhain has the story.

MENDOZA-EXSTROM: We set out with this idea that if every eight year old in the state of Washington formed a core memory through this event, an event that is about community connection, it's about connectivity to a global sport that really is its own language.

BUHAIN (VO): Maya Mendoza-Exstrom is Chief Business Officer of the Seattle Reign and on the local organizing committee board for the FIFA Men's World Cup games.

She says while Seattle is officially named a World Cup city in 2022, the region has been gearing up for these games for decades, all the way back to asking the voters to support building what is now Lumen Field.

>> This stadium is purpose built for Olympic and World Cup soccer.

So Lumen was the very first NFL stadium built to support international soccer.

VO: Seattle will spend nearly $32 million to host six matches of the 2026 FIFA Men's World Cup.

>> While much of the money will be spent on police and emergency management, other World Cup spending has resulted in water bottle filling stations, art on Monorail columns and public pitches, just like this one.

FIFA has estimated about 750,000 fans will attend games.

State officials say that could bring $846 million to the region, including nearly $600 million spent in local businesses.

This is really the relationship soccer fans have with FIFA.

They hate FIFA, but they love soccer.

VO: Journalist Clemente Lisi has written books and articles about the history of the World Cup and the impact on the games on their host cities.

So basically, the cities are on the hook for a lot of expense with the promise that then they will make that money, and then more.

It doesn't always work out that way, though.

VO: Hotels in Seattle and across the country are seeing lower than expected hotel reservations, and international tourists have expressed worries about immigration enforcement.

>> So these factors altogether are contributing to a strange climate in terms of the organization and what's happening around it.

VO: Some local groups have expressed concern about the games and the impact they might have on certain neighborhoods.

The International Examiner has covered some of these concerns in the Chinatown International District.

ROBINSON: Chinatowns in North America are often located near stadiums and they're often impacted negatively by being near stadiums, you know, with people coming in to park their cars but not not really spend time in the neighborhood or benefit it.

VO: But the paper has also reported that neighborhood groups have been working to make sure that the CID sees benefits from the event.

>> Friends of Little Saigon, Chinatown-ID Preservation Development Authority, Chinatown-ID Business Improvement Area who are working with small businesses to make sure their needs are met and their voices are heard.

VO: Lisi pointed out that the 1994 World Cup, held in the U.S.

set the stage for soccer's success in the country today.

LISI: We wouldn't have women's soccer be what it is today and you wouldn't have Major League Soccer, which is America's professional soccer league, which didn't even exist in '94.

It was created as a result.

And Seattle's a big soccer city.

And you know, they have the Sounders and they you know, it's very popular.

They they get 30, 40, 50,000 people to go to games.

VO: Mendoza-Exstrom says a major benefit of hosting the games this year is putting Seattle on a global map as a destination not only for tourists but for major events.

>> Seattle becomes a place that can do this.

Now, we don't have to do it every summer and all the time, but we become a sought after place because of the community flavor, because people have such an incredible experience here, because it's not cookie cutter, because we are Seattle and we are Washington state.

LISI: We might not see another World Cup in America for another 30 or 40 years.

you know, the World Cup is a big party, I always say, and people travel around the world to go to that party and then, you know, maybe once in your lifetime, maybe twice in your lifetime, the party comes to you.

I'm Paris Jackson.

Thank you for watching The Newsfeed.

To see the rest of our coverage on the upcoming World Cup visit CascadePBS.org/thenewsfeed.