Kansas City, chosen as one of 16 cities in the United States, Canada, and Mexico to host FIFA World Cup 26™, is marking one year since the announcement of this historic sporting event, hailed by FIFA as the greatest in world history.
Holland estimates the direct economic impact of Kansas City hosting the FIFA World Cup 26™ at $652 million, adding that the estimate is very conservative. Photo credit: Marcia Charney | MWM KC
Katherine Holland, the executive director of KC2026, a non-profit organization responsible for strategizing and fulfilling contractual obligations for FIFA World Cup 26™, has actively participated in the bid process since its inception. Holland, who will assume the role of overseeing the implementation of the event in Kansas City, served as the keynote speaker at the KC Downtowners June luncheon.
The World Cup finals in 2022 garnered an astounding global viewership of over 1 billion people, reaffirming soccer's status as the world's most beloved sport. In comparison, this remarkable statistic surpasses the 114 million viewers who witnessed the Kansas City Chiefs' victory in the Super Bowl earlier this year, showcasing the immense popularity and widespread appeal of soccer on a global scale.
The FIFA World Cup 26™ will have an expanded structure, featuring 12 groups in group play, which is up from 8 in 2022. In total, 48 teams will be competing, up from 32 in 2022. The tournament will run 37-plus days, with the final match held on July 19 and the first match on or around June 11.
“It’s looking like it will be about 37 to 39 days, which is up from 28 days in 2022. So that brings the total number of matches to 104 matches, up from 64,” Holland said.
According to Holland, Kansas City potentially could host 7 to 9 matches.
Holland said Kansas City began the bid process in 2017. Kansas City submitted a bid “probably three times” to make the final shortlist in March 2018.
In October 2021, Kansas City hosted FIFA for what Holland described as a “critical site visit.”
“We got to show off our region to people that wouldn’t have probably had a reason to come and travel here before. We’re talking about an international delegation from all over the world that came in representing FIFA,” she said.
Holland said going into that critical meeting, Kansas City knew it had some real strengths in its bid. First, she said, Kansas City has world-class facilities in GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium, the sixth largest stadium in the National Football League.
Holland also said the region probably has the best options for training sites of any host city, with facilities located on both sides of the state line, including Children’s Mercy Park, Compass Minerals National Performance Center, Rock Chalk Park, Sporting Kansas City II Training Center, University of Kansas Health System Training Complex, Missouri Western State University, Park University and KC NWSL Training Center.
Regional support emerged as another significant strength in the bidding process.
“The theme of our bid was Uniting our Region. So, we were very mindful of the fact that even though matches are only going to be hosted in Kansas City, we really want to unite the entire region around this effort. This is a once-in-a-lifetime, historic effort to showcase the Midwest on the global stage,” she said.
Holland said Kansas City’s central location proved critical to winning the bid because Kansas City is located no more than a four-hour flight from any host city, including those in Mexico and Canada.
Holland said there were three major bid challenges. The first was a human rights challenge. She said that because FIFA does not have a great track record when it comes to mitigating human rights issues, they are using 2026 as an opportunity to reframe their reputation.
“We’re really working closely with them, all the host cities are working closely with them, on very robust, well-rounded plans to mitigate any potential sort of environmental challenges, human rights challenges, otherwise to make sure we’re delivering the most inclusive and economically and environmentally responsible event that they’ve ever had,” she said
The second challenge involves fundraising. Kansas City is the smallest host city and does not have the level of experience of some other host cities in hosting large-scale events. Holland said there is much local support from both sides of the state line, but it will take “a substantial lift” to raise the $160 to $168 million required to produce this event.
Transportation was the third challenge. On the first round of bidding, Kansas City scored the lowest in host city mobility, scoring a zero. Holland said the bid committee needed to work really hard to tell a different story.
Working with transportation engineers who donated their time, Kansas City showed that of the then 17 potential U.S. host cities, Kansas City was actually number one in reliability with less congestion, fewer unexpected delays, and greater on-time arrivals. In addition, Kansas City ranks number one in the United States for freeway lane miles per capita.
“And then we were able to brag about the streetcar. Talk about the expansion that was planned. Talk about the fact that we have the largest free transit system in the country and will continue to build on that experience,” Holland said.
Kansas City is contractually obligated to deliver a complimentary transportation system during the World Cup. Holland said there are plans for a multi-modal transit system that still must be built and engineered. Also, keeping with the theme of uniting the region, there are plans to have long-distance park and ride options in other cities such as Des Moines, Wichita and Omaha.
“Transportation keeps me up at night because if we don’t get transportation right, it could mar the whole experience. It’s probably the number one priority for me to get moving from a planning and engineering perspective,” said Holland.
Kansas City will have a Fan Fest area, but the location has not been determined yet.
Since winning the bid, Kansas City sent a delegation to the World Cup held last year in Doha, Qatar and formed the KC2026 entity which is governed by a board of directors consisting of elected and appointed officials, representatives from local professional sports teams and the Jackson County Sports Complex Authority and other civic leaders.
Right now, Holland is the only employee of KC2026, but she has plans to hire staff to help bring the event to life, including developing an over-arching strategic plan for execution.
“Our initial theme was uniting a region, and we need to deliver on that. (We need to) Continue to elevate our city and our region on the global stage to make it just a little bit easier to attract businesses and talent and drive the opportunity to host bigger events down the road -- or I should say more. I don’t know if it’s going to get any bigger, but more events down the road,” said Holland.
Holland estimates the direct economic impact of Kansas City hosting the FIFA World Cup 26™ at $652 million, adding that the estimate is very conservative.
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FEATURE PHOTO CREDIT: Lisa J. Shackelford | MWM KC