Can Tourists Buy Cannabis During The 2026 FIFA World Cup In New York?

Jelena MartinovicBy , Featured Writer
Burn After Reading The 30-second intel for operators and investors

New York's 200-plus licensed dispensaries are preparing for World Cup visitors as matches run June 11 to July 19 at MetLife Stadium, while state regulators launch a campaign urging tourists to buy only from licensed retailers.

  • Operators: Operators are running promotions and planning watch parties for visitors. The state's education campaign points tourists to licensed shops, identified by an Office of Cannabis Management sticker, which favors compliant retailers over unlicensed sellers.
  • Investors: The World Cup could introduce a global audience to New York's legal market, giving licensed operators a visible tourism opportunity. The article gives no sales projections, so any revenue effect remains unquantified.
  • Do now: Confirm your Office of Cannabis Management license sticker is visible, and brief staff to tell tourists that public smoking is prohibited and that carrying cannabis across state lines or by air is discouraged.
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With the 2026 FIFA World Cup approaching, football fever is already sweeping across the globe. While brands are racing to seize the opportunity and engage World Cup fans amid soccer’s biggest event, which drives marketing, the cannabis industry is not lagging behind.

One of the biggest sporting events in the world, the FIFA World Cup Final, alongside additional matches between June 11 and July 19, will take place at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, closely tied to the New York metropolitan area.

New York City has over 200 licensed cannabis dispensaries, and industry supporters see the World Cup as an opportunity to promote the growing market.

“We are running promotions and planning on doing watch parties in our VIP lounge,” Osbert Orduna, CEO of The Cannabis Place in Middle Village, Queens, and Jersey City, NJ, told The New York Post.

The FIFA World Cup has the potential to introduce a global audience to New York’s legal cannabis industry, the website STUPID DOPE noted in a post Saturday. “The overlap between tourism and cannabis culture presents a powerful opportunity for licensed operators.”

However, state oversight is helping ensure that safety standards are met. To that end, state regulators are launching a cannabis education campaign designed to help tourists and fans understand how to legally and safely purchase and use cannabis, reported the New York Post.

The state officials urged visitors to purchase cannabis from licensed dispensaries only. Such products can be easily identified via a state Office of Cannabis Management license sticker. Retailers that are not licensed could offer untested products that sometimes contain harmful substances.

“We certainly don’t want to see any adverse events,” John Kagia, executive director of the state Office of Cannabis Management, said.

Visitors and tourists should also be aware that public cannabis smoking remains prohibited in New York, while traveling with cannabis across state lines or by air is discouraged, as the plant is still considered illegal under federal law.

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Jelena Martinovic
June 8, 2026
Covers cannabis news, markets and regulation for IgniteIt. Previously wrote about financial markets for Benzinga and Insider Monkey.
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