The Scots drank every drop of beer in Boston. The Dutch filled Kansas City’s hotels. The French chowed down on Philadelphia cheesesteaks. For the past month, soccer fans at home and from abroad opened their wallets and boosted spending in World Cup host cities across the U.S.

The complete tally is still being added up, but some American business owners are already claiming economic victory. The biggest winners weren’t star-studded cities such as New York and Los Angeles, but less-obvious destinations including Philadelphia and Kansas City, Mo., which saw significant boosts in tourism.

“It’s fun to make a lot of money,” said Doug Hager, owner of Brauhaus Schmitz, a German beer hall and restaurant in Philadelphia that anointed itself the city’s “World Cup Headquarters.” Hager has sold roughly 4,000 German pretzels since the tournament began.

A few months ago, some hospitality-industry experts feared the World Cup would be a bust. Victor Matheson, an economics professor at the College of the Holy Cross, warned that crowds and distraction would keep traditional tourists away—and that soccer fans wouldn’t come either.