The World Cup was supposed to be an economic gold mine for Los Angeles.
Instead, it was a financial disappointment for the city’s hotels… and that is raising serious questions about what happens when the Olympics arrive in 2028.
A new survey by the Hotel Association of Los Angeles finds 72 percent of hotels report the World Cup actually hurt their 2026 financial outlook.
Nearly three-quarters either froze hiring or cut staffing.
And here’s the kicker. Hotel occupancy during the World Cup was lower than smaller events in L.A., like Taylor Swift concerts, WrestleMania, the NBA All-Star Game and BTS concerts.
And there’s another financial squeeze. Los Angeles’ hotel minimum wage.
Los Angeles raised its hotel minimum wage to $25 an hour in July, with an additional $4.25 an hour required for health benefits.
That brings the combined wage and health benefit requirement to $29.25 an hour.
Compare that with California’s statewide minimum wage of $16.90 an hour and the federal minimum wage of just $7.25.
That means L.A. hotels must pay a base wage more than three times the federal minimum, even before adding health benefits.
For a hotel with 100 full-time minimum-wage workers, the increase from $22.50 to $25 an hour adds $520,000 in annual payroll costs — before taxes and benefits.
Hotel operators have warned that L.A.’s rising labor costs are forcing difficult staffing decisions — and have resulted in the layoff of 20 percent of union hotel workers, and reduced hours of current workers.
Now the city is preparing for the 2028 Olympics, with even higher hotel wages scheduled to take effect.
The question for City Hall: What good is a higher minimum wage if workers are losing hours and hotels aren’t filling rooms?
