The casino-hotel is backing a free fan zone at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, extending the tournament’s local presence beyond the stadium itself.
Resorts World New York City, also referred to as RWNYC, has been named a sponsor of the NYNJ World Cup 26 Queens Group Stage HQ, a free fan destination at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. The release said the fan zone opened on Thursday, June 11, 2026, and was scheduled to run through June 27, alongside the group-stage window of the FIFA World Cup 26. The announcement places a Queens casino-hotel at the centre of a neighbourhood-facing activation designed to give residents and visitors a shared viewing point for matches being played nearby.
The location connects the sponsorship to the tournament’s wider New York and New Jersey footprint. MetLife Stadium was scheduled to host eight matches, while the Queens site at Louis Armstrong Stadium was set to offer live broadcasts on big screens, family programming, local food vendors and community activations. The release described Queens as the “World’s Borough” and said more than 160 spoken languages are represented there, framing the fan zone as a local gathering place for an event with an international audience.
RWNYC also co-sponsored the Queens Group Stage HQ opening concert, which the release said was scheduled for Friday, June 12, 2026, with Nas as headliner. The company said it donated 100 VIP tickets to community organisations including Jamaica YMCA, Boys & Girls Club of Metro Queens, Showing Hearts, Southern Queens Park Association, Queens Economic Development Corporation, Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning, Heartshare, RiverFund and Greater Jamaica Development Corporation. Entry to the fan zone was described as free, although tickets were required.
The sponsorship illustrates how major sporting events can be presented through dispersed, community-based venues rather than only through the main stadium. The release linked RWNYC’s involvement to a broader effort to bring the World Cup to different parts of Queens, citing watch parties announced by Queens Borough President Donovan Richards in areas ranging from Flushing to the Rockaways. Those events were described as being funded through NYC Tourism + Conventions and included screenings at cultural institutions and community spaces.
For RWNYC, the announcement adds a cultural and civic dimension to the resort’s established presence in Queens. The company’s release said it has operated in the borough since 2011 and described the property as the Big Apple’s only casino-hotel, with a 400-room Hyatt Regency JFK Airport hotel opened on the site in 2021. By supporting a public viewing hub and community ticket distribution, Resorts World is associating its local identity with the borough’s role in welcoming the World Cup, while leaving the event’s broader economic impact to be judged after the tournament.
