{"id":114,"date":"2026-06-08T12:36:47","date_gmt":"2026-06-08T12:36:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worcestermovingreport.com\/?p=114"},"modified":"2026-06-08T12:36:47","modified_gmt":"2026-06-08T12:36:47","slug":"the-world-cup-has-arrived-but-how-are-the-vibes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worcestermovingreport.com\/?p=114","title":{"rendered":"The World Cup has arrived, but how are the vibes?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

THE WAIT <\/mark><\/strong>is over: The 2026 World Cup will kick off later this week with matches set to be held across 16 cities in the US, Canada, and Mexico. <\/p>\n

Read more House wades in on data privacy: \u2018Your data belongs to you.\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

Massachusetts officials have been busy for months planning for the seven matches at Gillette Stadium, renamed Boston Stadium for the tournament, and the influx of international soccer fans set to descend upon the region to take in the world\u2019s most-watched sporting event. <\/p>\n

This week on The Codcast, CommonWealth Beacon<\/em> reporter Jordan Wolman speaks with Chris Dempsey, partner at urban planning firm Speck Dempsey and a former state assistant secretary of transportation who is best known for his work as co-chair of \u201cNo Boston Olympics\u201d that successfully pushed the city to abandon its 2024 Olympics bid. <\/p>\n

Dempsey launched no such opposition campaign to the city\u2019s push to be selected as one of the World Cup hosts. <\/p>\n

\u201cI want to be clear that I have the same moral qualms about FIFA that I did about the IOC,\u201d he said. Those organizations \u201care not friends of their host cities and do not care about the interests of taxpayers. But there are fundamental differences between an Olympic bid and a World Cup bid. And the biggest difference of course is that you don\u2019t need to build a bunch of venues for the World Cup. That was always our biggest concern.\u201d <\/p>\n

That doesn\u2019t mean he\u2019s convinced that the fundamental time, money, and safety and infrastructure upgrades needed to pull off a mega-event like this is in our best interest. <\/p>\n

There\u2019s been no shortage of hiccups along the way to the start of the tournament. Right out of the gate, World Cup fans were experiencing sticker shock and frustration at the astronomical ticket prices and seemingly impossible online queues. <\/p>\n

Then, the T announced that just getting to Boston Stadium some 22 miles away from downtown by rail wouldn\u2019t be so cheap, either: Fans can purchase an $80 roundtrip train or a $95 roundtrip bus tickets. <\/p>\n

Read more House approves later last call bill that would run through July<\/a><\/p>\n

There has also been delays issuing licenses from FIFA for watch parties across the state and an intense squabble between soccer\u2019s governing body and the town of Foxborough. <\/p>\n

Dempsey, though, is \u201cvery defensive\u201d of the T\u2019s need to recoup some of the costs of upgrading Foxborough station and rearranging trains around the system and adding more staff to accommodate match day travel. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s the larger \u201coperational\u201d tradeoffs that Dempsey is concerned about because of the preparations the T needs to make for a massive event like the World Cup. That includes reducing commuter rail service in other parts of the system, forcing daily commuters to \u201cbear the brunt of the need for FIFA to shuttle people in and out\u201d of Foxborough. <\/p>\n

\u201cI want my MBTA general manager and my transportation secretary \u2026 focused on the day-to-day commutes of people in Massachusetts,\u201d he said. \u201cI want him making the long-term decisions about how to improve the transportation system in the Commonwealth.\u201d <\/p>\n

Dempsey is optimistic that the actual event will run smoothly. But don\u2019t expect him to push for Boston to host the Olympics in 2048. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf the World Cup is like a flesh wound on your municipal budgets, the Olympics would have been like losing a limb,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s two orders of magnitude larger. I will always and consistently oppose the city of Boston, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, participating in an Olympic bid because you put way more in than you get out of that kind of event.\u201d <\/p>\n

On the episode, they discuss what makes this World Cup selection different from Boston\u2019s Olympic bid (1:52), how the event is impacting the T (5:18), and whether hosting these mega-events is worth it (10:45). <\/em> <\/p>\n

Read more Transparency fight escalates as House votes to limit its exposure to audit, public records requests<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Matches in the world\u2019s biggest sports spectacle will kick off this week across North America. With Boston as one of the host cities \u2014 seven matches will be played at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, which will be renamed Boston Stadium for the World Cup tournament \u2014 Massachusetts will be in the spotlight as it hosts thousands of international fans and will need to safely move people between the city and a stadium some 22 miles away by rail. Are we ready? And is hosting these sorts of mega-events even worth it? This week on The Codcast, Chris Dempsey, the former co-chair of \u201cNo Boston Olympics\u201d joins CommonWealth Beacon reporter Jordan Wolman to discuss whether this time is any different from more than a decade ago when Dempsey successfully fought against Boston\u2019s bid to play home base for the 2024 Olympics.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-114","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-codcast"],"yoast_head":"\nThe World Cup has arrived, but how are the vibes? - Worcester Moving Report<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/worcestermovingreport.com\/?p=114\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The World Cup has arrived, but how are the vibes? - Worcester Moving Report\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Matches in the world\u2019s biggest sports spectacle will kick off this week across North America. 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