Scotland’s World Cup visit boosted Boston economy with 86% spike in downtown bar spending

The rowdy Scots gave Boston an economic boost this summer, helping to drive an 86% year-over-year increase in downtown bar spending for the June World Cup period that peaked at a 179% spike on Scotland’s final match day.

Mayor Michelle Wu’s office released preliminary data Wednesday on how the World Cup boosted the city’s economy from June 12 to 30. The data shows that the international tournament generated an estimated $83 million in spending during that time period, and $1.5 million in tax revenue for the city.

Restaurant spending was up by about 2% citywide and 15% in “Greater Downtown,” but the data suggests that the biggest economic driver during the World Cup was booze, with international tourists flooding Boston bars during the soccer tournament.

The Scots reportedly drank several city bars dry due to round-the-clock drinking during their visit in mid-June, when the Scotland team was taking part in the Boston group stage. City data shows bar spending increased by about 27% citywide and 86% downtown compared to last June.

Bar spending peaked citywide at 66% above 2025 levels on June 20, just before the Scots left for their next matches in Miami. Downtown bar spending peaked at a whopping 179% above 2025 levels on June 19, when Scotland was playing in its final Boston group stage match, which fell on a Friday.

Wu credited Boston’s “sense of fun” for the economic boost brought by roughly 50,000 Scots.

“Just for the record, the Tartan Army did go to other cities as well, and I saw at least two videos of members of the Tartan Army in other cities lamenting that Boston was better,” Wu said at a roundtable discussion she held at a Hyde Park brewery Wednesday that focused on summer economic impacts.

“I think it was our sense of the welcome for everyone, our sense of fun here, that we are just as willing to go toe to toe with some of the shenanigans in a safe and community-supported way,” Wu added.

Wu was likely referencing at least one well-circulated video that showed Miami Police thwarting some Scots’ efforts to place a traffic cone on a local statue, after the Scottish statue tradition was encouraged by Boston brass during their visit.

The mutual admiration between Boston locals and Scotland visitors led to a sister-city agreement between Boston and Glasgow, where the traffic cone statue tradition originated.

Wu said the city is seizing on the booze-soaked World Cup success by directly tying the economic boost to looser alcohol restrictions that were allowed temporarily this summer, with the aim of petitioning state lawmakers to make changes like later bar hours and public drinking zones permanent in Boston.

Speaking to local efforts to expand last call hours at city bars to 3 a.m., Wu said, “We are going to continue to gather the specific numbers and evidence and both quantitative and qualitative data from our businesses so we can prove how much it’s helped Boston and other cities. We would like for this to be permanent.”

The data released by her office shows more than 100 businesses extended their operating hours out of the 211 that were approved for 3 a.m. last call hours through July 31. Last call at Boston bars is typically 1 or 2 a.m.

The push to make 3 a.m. last call hours permanent in Boston has been met with pushback from the city’s largest police union, the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association, which has cited “scientific evidence” that “shows that greater alcohol consumption leads to higher rates of crime and violence.”

“Extending last call from 2 a.m. to 3 a.m. is a bad idea that invites and encourages bad behavior and the elected officials pushing the measure should think long and hard about the undeniable negative consequences associated with excessive alcohol consumption,” BPPA President Larry Calderone said last month in a statement to the Herald.

When asked about the potential for safety issues, including a spike in drunk driving, Wu said Wednesday that experimenting this summer with later bar hours gave city officials a chance to see “through our own eyes whether different fears or concerns are founded, and if they are,” find ways to mitigate those concerns.

Wu said there were no “dangerous” or “reckless” incidents that she’s aware of that were directly tied to later bar hours.

She acknowledged that whenever alcohol is involved, particularly during large-scale events in the summer, some “people have a little too much fun and end up getting medical care,” but said in those instances, the city has not seen “any significant concerns about safety afterwards.”

Wu said she’s actually heard from bar owners that later last call hours have “made behavior safer” because people had more time to space out their drinking.

“They would actually have a later dinner and then go to hang out at a bar or somewhere else and have a longer time to unwind and not have to slam down the last couple drinks and then run out the door because it was closing down,” Wu said.

Michael Nichols, president of the Downtown Boston Alliance, said the MBTA would have to step up with late-night service hours to ensure that if the city were to move forward with a permanent 3 a.m. last call, it would be a “safe option.”