Six weeks before the World Cup, thousands of Philly-area Airbnbs and hotel rooms remain unbooked

Jenica Jones’ South Philly Airbnb has a perfect 5-star rating and is less than three miles from Lincoln Financial Field, where six FIFA World Cup matches are set to take place this summer.

Airbnb has predicted sky-high demand during the tournament, and Jones said the app’s dynamic-pricing tool suggested she triple her rates to about $900 a night. The house can sleep seven guests, she said, making a World Cup stay there still cheaper per person than it would be at some hotels.

Despite all this, Jones had yet to receive a single World Cup booking as of Wednesday.

Her two rentals — the South Philly rowhouse and a West Philly duplex — typically book about a month in advance, but she said she expected earlier planning from soccer fans flocking to the city from around the world.

Still, she said, she remains optimistic that a surge in World Cup demand is on the horizon.

“I’m not worried. I feel like it’ll come,” Jones said. But “it’s not coming right now.”

Jones’ experience is not unique, according to AirDNA, which analyzes Airbnb and Vrbo data: More than half the Philly area’s short-term rentals remained available during the World Cup as of Wednesday, including on game days and game-day eves. The market contains more than 8,600 Airbnb and Vrbo listings, though not all properties are open for booking every day.

Less than two months before the FIFA games begin, thousands of U.S. homeowners in host cities from Atlanta to Houston are also waiting for last-minute bookings, the Wall Street Journal reported last week.

Some soccer fans have said they are staying away from the games. They point to high ticket prices, increasingly expensive airfare, exorbitant transit costs in some host cities, frustration with FIFA as a business, and deep concern about issues that could arise because of U.S. immigration policies. Some team’s fans can’t attend because of the Trump administration’s travel bans.

» READ MORE: Haiti dreams of bringing a party to the World Cup, even though its citizens can’t come to Philadelphia

In Philadelphia, the World Cup is also set to overlap with the city’s celebrations of the United States’ 250th anniversary. And shortly after FIFA leaves town the MLB All-Star game will take place at Citizens Bank Park.

As World Cup matches approach, hoteliers aren’t faring much better than short-term renters.

Last month, about 80% of hotel operators in 11 U.S. host cities — about 75% in Philadelphia — said demand for rooms during the World Cup had not met expectations, according to an American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) report released this week.

In several cities, including Philadelphia, “many respondents describe the tournament as a ‘non-event,’” according to the report.

On Wednesday, a Google Travel search showed plenty of hotel rooms still available during the World Cup, with Center City rates starting around $300 a night on game days. Prices appear higher than usual at some hotels, including the few near the stadiums, where nightly rates fall between $500 and $1,500.

In March, FIFA canceled 2,000 of their 10,000 Philadelphia hotel room reservations, which are meant for staff, media organizations, and attendees.

Ed Grose, CEO of the Greater Philadelphia Hotel Association, said at the time: “While I would have rather had them keep their hotel room blocks, I hope that those rooms that FIFA dropped are picked up by fans coming to watch the matches.”

Officials from Philadelphia Soccer 2026 have estimated that the World Cup will bring 500,000 visitors to the region, and Airbnb has estimated that about 149,000 of them will require overnight accommodations, according to a Deloitte report published in December at Airbnb’s behest.

The report predicted that 17,000 Airbnb guests would spend a total of $14 million on rentals alone.

Airbnb dominates the short-term rental industry, commanding nearly half the global market share. Executives at the San Francisco-based company, which has partnered with the World Cup and offered incentives for new users in host cities, said homeowners shouldn’t worry if they are still waiting on summer bookings.

“The FIFA World Cup is the biggest sporting event on the planet and millions of people are expected to attend the tournament this summer,” Sam Randall, Airbnb’s director of corporate and executive communications, said in a statement.

“Similar to other major hosting events on Airbnb, we expect a significant portion of bookings to be made closer to the event dates.”

While there hasn’t been a flood of World Cup reservations, some Philly-area short-term-rental hosts have started to see bookings trickle in.

Near the Art Museum, Richard Ervais’ rowhouse — one of the highest-rated Airbnbs in Philly — is booked solid during the World Cup. But only two of the reservations were made by those who said they’re attending matches.

Airbnb suggested he double his prices to about $400 a night during the World Cup. He said he lowered the rate for a guest who said she was visiting the city for a graduation.

“I don’t really like the greed that is out there,” said Ervais, 68, who works in tech marketing.

As of Wednesday, David Collinsworth, a 30-year-old South Jersey carpenter and home-flipper, said he, too, had secured two World Cup bookings for the single-family Glassboro home that he rents out on Airbnb, Vrbo, and Booking.com.

One group of soccer fans is paying $4,000 for a six-day stay, Collinsworth said. Another is paying $500 for one night. The property is less than half an hour from the Linc and it sleeps 12.

Recently, Collinsworth has been making between $5,000 and $7,500 a month renting the property to Rowan University families and visitors, he said. He also rents to temporary workers at the nuclear power plant in Salem County.

If his property books up for the World Cup, he stands to make more than $20,000 in June alone, he said. He’s confident more fans will book soon, so he hasn’t lowered his prices, which on Airbnb are set as high as $2,000 a night on certain days.

“Soccer is the No. 1 sport in the world, whether people want to believe it or not,” Collinsworth said, “and those fans pay.”

But, he said, he’ll eventually lower the price if he still doesn’t get any bookings.

He bought the home for $250,000, and then put in another $150,000 in renovations, for the purpose of renting it out for college graduations and other university events.

The World Cup, Collinsworth added, is just a bonus.