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Senate Ways and Means Chair Michael Rodrigues speaks at the kickoff meeting of the fiscal year 2025 closeout supplemental budget conference committee in the Senate Ways and Means office on Nov. 3, 2025.
Ella Adams|SHNS
Massachusetts lawmakers are trying to figure out how much the state will need to spend to help host the 2026 FIFA World Cup next summer, and the calculations have triggered recent Senate talks with event organizers.
Negotiations formally began Monday on a $2.3 billion bill to wrap up fiscal year 2025 spending and the bill could be the vehicle for a support outlay for the international event. The question is how much is enough.
Visitors from around the world are expected to pour into the state for the FIFA World Cup, which features seven games at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough.
The House version of the bill (H 4615) allocated $10 million in connection with hosting the matches, while the Senate version (S 2670) allocated no funding. Gov. Maura Healey requested $20 million for a reserve to support costs associated with the matches.
Asked Monday why the Senate didn't allocate funding for the event in its version of the bill, Senate Ways and Means Chair Michael Rodrigues said, "We really had no formal ask of us to allocate any money."
"I have, subsequent to our budget vote, met with the World Cup folks, FIFA Boston folks — so we will have a conversation going forward," Rodrigues said.
Rodrigues noted that a June spending law included $5 million for a reserve for "publicly incurred transportation costs associated with the 2026 World Cup matches," but said "the organizers of the World Cup had not had any conversations with the State Senate" leading up to the chamber's supplemental budget vote.
Sen. Patrick O'Connor withdrew a supplemental budget amendment that would have provided $20 million for hosting costs, but warned that "The way we respond to this moment will have generational ripple effects."
"We need to step up and take this seriously as a commonwealth, as a region, and the city of Boston and provide the funding that this event needs to be a success and to make sure that we have the people working on it to support its success," he said.
Sen. Paul Feeney's district includes Gillette Stadium and he said conversations about funding are "ongoing."
"This investment, any investment that we make as a state, is really going to come back to our benefit, you know, multiple fold, because of the number of people coming through our state, going to games, just coming here to watch, right?" Healey said last week. "The number of dollars that are going to be spent in hotels and our restaurants, it's going to be amazing. So that investment is worth it."
Ella Adams is a reporter for the State House News Service and State Affairs Pro Massachusetts. Reach her at eadams@stateaffairs.com.
