Philly Plain Dealer

The city of Philadelphia is pushing all of its chips into the center of the table and betting big on 2026 to bolster the local economy and push Philly from a second-tier city into the top tier alongside New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles. 

Major investments by the City for 2026 include:

• $30 million to support organizations, host events, drive marketing and other initiatives
• $28 million in public safety investments to ensure everyone has a safe, memorable experience
• $500 million is designated for airport capital investments, underscoring the City’s commitment to fostering a successful and memorable 2026.
• Over $100 million invested and partnerships spanning more than 60 community and cultural organizations
• The fiscal budget adds additional investments in 2026 events, bringing the total commitment from the General, Transportation, and Capital Funds to nearly $120 million

Philadelphia is in a unique position heading into 2026. Philly shed the title as “the poorest big city in America” in 2025, homicides have been on a downward trajectory since 2023, and the city’s cultural relevancy is higher than its ever been between representation in film & television, successful Philadelphia artists, and championship-level athletics constantly bringing earned media attention to the City. Philly is primed for success in 2026 in a way that it has never been. 

The FIFA World Cup, MLB All-Star Game, PGA Tour, Unrivaled and NCAA Tournament are all making stops in Philadelphia in 2026. TED Talks about Democracy, the celebration of America’s 250th Birthday, parades, parties, and festivals all celebrating America’s Semi-Quinsentennial. These bonus events come on top of the regularly scheduled fun that occurs in Philadelphia like the Mummer’s Parade, Odunde, the Italian Market Festival, Juneteenth, Porchfest, Playoff Runs, Wawa’s July 4th Celebration, and everything we’ve come to know and love. 

2026 is a year for ambitious Philadelphians to thrive, if there was ever a time to accomplish the unaccomplishable it is now. Unfortunately, it’s likely too late for late arrivals to get their hands on the millions of dollars of City investments because they’ve mostly all been allocated to organizations and individuals that have been planning for 2026 since 2024. However, there will be money to grab and advantageous situations for everyone in the City as the tourists flood in. 

What is success in 2026?

In 2024, 26.6 million people visited Philadelphia and the City brought in $7 billion in tourist revenue. Year over year from 2022 to 2024 tourism revenue grew by about $500 million from $6.01 billion in 2022 to the full $6.98 billion in 2024. Assuming that trend holds pace Philadelphia would have brought in about $7.5 billion in revenue in 2025, so with all this additional investment success in 2026 would look like $9 billion in tourism revenue brought to Philadelphia. 

Beyond the cold-blooded excel sheet mathematics of this all, success looks like improvements to Philadelphia-at-large beyond the confines of the stadium district, Center City, and Olde City. Influence, improvements, and money needs to spread to South Philly, West Philly, Northeast Philly and beyond.

SEPTA is likely Philadelphia’s biggest liability and if somehow the increased tourism revenue translates into improving SEPTA long term, 2026 will have been a success.

If somehow the big winners of 2026 are the corporate sponsors of the events that take place in Philadelphia, then the year will have been an abject failure.