Philly leaders say 2026 plans are on track, but SEPTA’s funding crisis could derail them

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In a city known for its history, Philadelphia is preparing to make history again in 2026. With a calendar jampacked with events — including the FIFA World Cup, the United States’ 250th birthday and the MLB All-Star Game — Philadelphia Councilmember Isaiah Thomas convened a coalition of city leaders, tourism experts and transportation executives to discuss how the city is preparing.

Held at the Museum of the American Revolution, a pre-hearing event kicked off with a uniquely Philadelphia moment: the city’s five beloved professional sports mascots were joined by five revolutionary-era reenactors from the museum, reinforcing the idea that 2026 will blend heritage with modern spectacle.

Thomas opened the session with a message of optimism but also urgency, emphasizing that 2026 is more than a series of events — it’s a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reshape the city’s image and invest in its long-term economic success.

“We want every Philadelphian to enjoy the moment,” Thomas said before the hearing. “We want entrepreneurs to be prepared for the moment. And most importantly, we want to make sure, as government, we do everything in our power to step up to the plate, to make sure that you know that this is an opportunity of a lifetime.”

It was a sentiment echoed by council members and by those giving testimony.

Jazelle Jones, city representative and director of operations for special events, highlighted how Philadelphia’s groundwork for 2026 began long before the present moment and could reverberate for years after.

“Philadelphia stands at a pivotal moment in history,” Jones said. “Not just to showcase our city to the world, but to ensure that this moment leaves a lasting legacy in our neighborhoods, for our businesses, and across every community.”

The looming SEPTA problem

However, the final panel of the day took a more dour turn given the recent news of major service cuts proposed by SEPTA sans an injection of funding from the state.

SEPTA’s Interim General Manager Scott Sauer told the city councilmembers that, without much-needed funding, “SEPTA will not be able to provide additional service for special events or support the transportation needs demanded of our world-class city next year.”

Sauer said Philly’s public transportation services were “a significant factor” in securing the World Cup’s decision to include Philadelphia among the 16 host cities across North America next year.

“So it is particularly painful to appear today following our budget announcement last week, including the dire service cuts and fare increases that SEPTA will need to implement to balance our budget without a permanent state funding solution to transit,” he said.

Sauer added that the service cuts could be alleviated if Harrisburg enacts Governor Josh Shapiro’s proposed budget increase for the perennially beleaguered transit system.

“The math is simple,” he said.

Thomas called it “unfortunate” that SEPTA has been made a “partisan issue.”

“We’re not going to stop the work that we need to do to fight and to advocate and to make sure that you get the funds that you need to support the citizens of Philadelphia,” Thomas told Sauer.

Here are other key takeaways from the hearing:

It’s the economy

With three major marquee spectacles and, potentially, thousands of smaller public and private events, 2026 is expected to be a big economic boost for the city.

“We measure success by the economic impact generated, hotel room nights booked and dates filmed at our state-owned Philadelphia Pennsylvania Convention Center and our amazing sports complex,” said Gregg Caren, president and CEO of the Philadelphia Convention and Vistors Bureau. “All of these major venues ripple out to support our hotels, restaurants, museums, cultural attractions and small businesses.”

Meg Kane, CEO and host city executive of Philadelphia Soccer 2026, said FIFA — the international governing body for soccer — projects a $770 million impact on the local economy from the 2026 World Cup alone.

Kane said they are taking a local first approach “in procurement, with 59% of our spending being with Pennsylvnania-based businesses and 40% in Philadelphia county.”

Estimates of the overall economic impact currently run between $1.3 billion and $2.5 billion in additional revenue for the city.

Thomas advocated that planners ensure that minority- and women-owned businesses share in that commerce.

“A core tenet of our marketing strategy is messaging that reflects the rich diversity of Philadelphia,” said Angela Val, president and CEO of Visit Philadelphia. “We are specifically developing content to feature and highlight Black- and brown-owned businesses across the city. Our website already delivers roughly 1 million web referrals annually to individual Black- and brown-owned businesses websites directly from visitphilly.com. “

Going hyperlocal and green

2026 planners stressed the importance of ensuring that activities involve every part of the city and are inclusive of arts organizations and other local institutions.

“We are 100% committed and focused on ensuring that the excitement and separation spill out into every neighborhood and every resident has the opportunity to be engaged in support of this,” said Kathryn Ott Lovell, president and CEO of the Philadelphia Visitor Center Corporation. “A lot of our focus is really looking at all of those other neighborhoods and zip codes to ensure that we have celebrations that are happening all throughout the city.”

Panelists applauded Mayor Cherelle Parker’s “cleaning and greening” efforts that have recruited local organizations and residents to tackle litter and graffiti around the city.

Caren with the Convention and Visitors Bureau called it a good start.

“We need to support and hyper-accelerate Mayor Parker’s safe, clean and green initiatives to ensure a positive visitor experience. Not just for six weeks, not just for six months, but every day from today forward and into the decades to come,” he said.

Val said that Visit Philadelphia is working with small local businesses to strengthen their online presence to ensure next year’s visitors can access them. She said they are sending photographers to take photos and will help write descriptions so they can be found through online searches.

“Once the visitor is here, Visit Philly’s job is to push that visitor out to as many things to do as possible so that they spend their money and that’s when they find these smaller exhibits and street festivals and this cute little restaurant at the end of this little cobblestone street that they didn’t know about,” she said. “That’s the thing that pulls people back to Philadelphia.”

PHL upgrades

Atif Saeed, chief executive officer of the city Department of Aviation, testified about their $500 million capital plan to improve and upgrade local airports. Those include expansions to accommodate more travelers at Philadelphia International as well as increased comfort and safety such as renovated bathrooms; new lights, tiles and carpeting; and improvements to runways, air traffic control and train line platforms.

Saeed also said it’s adding airport lounges and Philly-founded vendors such as Elixr Coffee, Yards Brewing, Geno’s Steaks and Sabrina’s Cafe.

“I feel confident that by spring of next year, our facility will be ready to serve as the welcome mat to the world and help showcase Philly,” he said.