Feb 18 (Reuters) - Travel rental platform Airbnb ABNB.O is rolling out a $750 incentive to attract new hosts in the 16 North American cities gearing up to welcome millions of visitors for the FIFA World Cup in mid-2026.

New "entire home" hosts who successfully fulfill their first guest stay between now and July 31 will qualify for the payout under the program, Airbnb said, describing it as the company's largest-ever incentive for new hosts.

Last month, FIFA said it received more than 500 million ticket requests for the 2026 World Cup during a 33-day application window.

Demand for lodgings during the FIFA World Cup, which is being co-hosted by the U.S., Canada and Mexico, has been skyrocketing. On match days, vacation rental prices are up as much as 50% from a year ago in some host cities, according to travel data firm AirDNA.

Airbnb expects hosts in the New York-New Jersey area, Boston and Los Angeles to earn the most during the tournament, projecting per-host earnings above $5,000 in all three markets.

Beyond the three host nations, FIFA received most ticket applications from Germany, England, Brazil, Spain, Portugal, Argentina and Colombia.

The World Cup could provide a much-needed boost to U.S. international inbound travel demand, which was down 5.4% through November 2025, per the U.S. National Travel and Tourism Office.

(Reporting by Aishwarya Jain in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath)

((Aishwarya.Jain@thomsonreuters.com;))