Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Travel
  3. Features

Looking to throw the most exclusive World Cup watch party? Charter a yacht

You can sleep on it, sail it between cities, and host a legendary watch party on its deck

By
The cinema screen on the STARFIRE yacht
Screenshot Northrop & Johnson

The 2026 FIFA World Cup is just a few weeks away, and already, people are looking for unique ways to watch the tournament. You can watch things live if you’re lucky enough to snag a ticket. Some hotels are offering premium packages costing up to half a million dollars. And you can always just charter a yacht for a few weeks. Luxury yacht brokerage Northrop & Johnson has several of its vessels available for charter on the East Coast during the tournament.

This includes the SEA OWL 88, which the company describes as “A sleek 2022 Azimut yacht with expansive windows, open-plan living spaces and generous outdoor entertaining areas.” You can snag the SEA OWL 88 from $85,000/week. Then there’s one of the newer yachts, the MISS MICHELLE. It’s a 122-foot Horizon RP yacht with spacious, modern interiors and strong long-distance cruising capability. The NICOLE EVELYN is all about comfort. Northrop and Johnson describe the Trinity-built vessel as having “a Jacuzzi, expansive sunpads, outdoor bar and movie screens on both the bridge deck and sundeck.” It could be your home base during the 2026 World Cup for $165,000/week. Finally, the 190-foot Skyfall offers over 3,700 square feet of outdoor living space. Like the NICOLE EVELYN, it boasts a sundeck with a Jacuzzi, while also rocking a plunge pool, bar, and alfresco dining areas. It’s the largest yacht on offer, but also the most expensive, starting at $290,000/wk

Recommended Videos

All of the yachts have large screen viewing capabilities, akin to an outdoor cinema in many cases. So you can pack the deck, load up on cocktails, and have a tournament to remember with your friends, family, and associates. A couple of yachts are also available in the Mediterranean, if you like the idea but would rather enjoy the tournament from Europe.

It’s a venue, transport, and accommodation all in one

The Nicole Evelyn yacht at sea
Screenshot Northrop & Johnson

As you’ve chartered the yacht, and yachts tend to be mobile, you can theoretically use it as both transport and accommodation during the tournament. So if you do stag tickets to games in New York and Boston, and you can work out docking with the brokerage, then it’s likely you can take your yacht between games while enjoying all of the facilities in between.

But even if you don’t make it into a stadium, you’ll still be able to host some of the most memorable watch parties of the 2026 World Cup.

While the month-long festival of football pretty much involves a match a day, you still have plenty to do on the chartered yachts when no balls are being kicked. For instance, SEA OWL 88 comes with a Sea Doo personal watercraft you can take out on the ocean at your leisure. NICOLE EVELYN features a sun deck and a jacuzzi, making it perfect for people who love a bit of leisure time.

Dave McQuilling
Dave McQuilling
Former Digital Trends Contributor
After completing a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Sutherland University, Dave began an accomplished career as a… Read Full Bio
Travel
Cafe Charmant, The Corner Store Crew’s Latest, Puts Food Ahead of the Scene
Clothing, Long Sleeve, Sleeve

I’ll be honest. If I weren’t a writer, there is no way in hell I could have landed a 7:15 Saturday night reservation at Cafe Charmant just a mere four weeks after its opening. The most recent jewel in the buzzy Catch Hospitality Group’s crown, the glitzy eatery is the newest IT restaurant to hit the downtown scene, so chalk it up to one of the perks of the job that I could walk in, order a drink, and be ushered to a corner table for two in under 10 minutes.

Though the state of making prime reservations in New York City may not come as a surprise to many, I’m still not able to reconcile with the current velvet rope of so many of this city’s restaurants. Sure, the 90s and early 2000’s had their Indochine, Moomba (if you remember that one, we need to grab a drink). The Waverly Inn, but for the most part, you could easily make a reservation or even walk in and wait for a table with a cocktail in hand at most popular establishments. And, let’s be honest, half the people weren’t even eating, if you know what I mean.

Read more
Travel
A tasting guide to Livermore Valley, California’s friendliest wine country
Adult, Male, Man

Livermore Valley sits in Northern California’s East Bay, where the hustle and bustle of neighboring Oakland and San Francisco give way to grassy rolling hills, big open skies, and over 40 tasting rooms. The region is home to some of the best wines I’ve tasted in the state, without the pretense and rigidity I’ve come to expect from other tasting rooms in the region.

And thanks to the valley’s marine-influenced winds, varied climate, and diverse soils, I tasted an unusually broad range of wines. Crisp whites, structured reds, and everything in between seem to be able to find their footing here.

Read more
Travel
High Society, Low Alcohol: A Trip to the Hamptons with Heineken 0.0
Ball, Sport, Tennis

After a multi-year bender of back-to-back press trips, I decided to swear off travel this past summer. The old dog was tired, and I desperately wanted to reconnect with old friends, visit family, and continue wooing a lovely lady in New York. Oh, and I needed to find time to actually write the stories I had promised publicists in exchange for gallivanting around the globe on their dime. I am, after all, a professional.

As summer raced by, my inbox swelled with tantalizing invitations. I turned them down one after the next with Spartan fortitude. A junket to the Loire Valley to review wineries? Thank you for considering me, but for the next few weeks, I’m committed to rekindling my relationship with my bed. A sailboat cruise on the Amalfi Coast? I hear it’s beautiful this time of year, but sadly, I’m in the weeds bingeing Landman.

Read more