A new report shows that this summer’s World Cup generated an impressive $3.5 billion in economic impact across New York and New Jersey, proving what major sporting events can become when leaders treat them as more than games. The matches bring crowds, but the larger value comes from what a region builds around them: business relationships, cultural visibility, civic pride and impressions that endure.

Other regions have succeeded when sports leaders and the private sector view and invest in these events as they would any valuable asset: market reach, brand strength, customer engagement and long-term growth potential. The strongest events create a setting where those investments compound. The decision-makers behind major-event bids prioritize markets that can bring jurisdictions and partners together, make the process easier and present their transportation, infrastructure, venues, hospitality capacity, corporate support and cultural assets as one coordinated regional offering. A unified private-sector voice can help lead that coordination. That is what the Preakness could do for Baltimore. That is what the Kentucky Derby does for Louisville, what South by Southwest does for Austin and what Art Basel does for Miami. Those cities did not stumble into that position. Leaders organized around a vision and built the surrounding market with intention.

Our region has been in this conversation before. When Washington, D.C., hosted World Cup matches in 1994, it confirmed what many already believed: that this corridor, stretching from Baltimore to Richmond, is one of the most powerful population, talent and business markets in the world. While our individual markets have their respective strengths, our collective region has the venues, institutions, infrastructure, international presence and civic........

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