Kansas City inches closer to meeting budget for FIFA 2026
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - For Kansas City to be successful at hosting the World Cup in 2026 it will take collaboration from both sides of the state.
Johnson County Commissioners took one step towards ensuring that success by voting to allocate $1.5 million for things like transportation, staffing and security. This comes on top of $15 million from Kansas City, Missouri.
KC2026′s projected budget is $165 million, which hasn’t been fully secured, and is made up of state money from both Missouri and Kansas, counties, cities and private donations.
The projected return on investment in direct event impact is $652.6 million for the Kansas City region.
JOCO Commission Chair Mike Kelly also sits on the KC2026 committee.
“We talk about a billion eyeballs, maybe double that on Kansas City, and on Johnson County, I mean how great of an opportunity is that?” Kelly said. “I’m really proud to be a part of this collaboration, you think about some of the great things that we’ve done in a bi-state fashion; Union Station being a good example of when we come together as a region, we can get good things done.”
Kansas City will host four group games at Arrowhead, a round of 32 games and a quarterfinal.
Pam Kramer from KC2026 was petitioning for the funds from Johnson County.
“Yesterday FIFA revealed the pathway for the host country teams and as I’ve said 20 times since the announcement came out – the dominoes have to fall, but there is a possibility that the United States team could play in Kansas City for that quarterfinal match,” Kramer said.
Kansas City will find out what teams it will host in late 2025.
The group-stage games to be played at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium are scheduled for:
Tuesday, June 16
Saturday, June 20
Thursday, June 25
Saturday, June 27
There are currently three training sites and paired hotels that could play host to international teams and their fans; KC Current Stadium with the Hotel Kansas City – The Unbound Collection by Hyatt, Children’s Mercy Park with the Sheraton Overland Park Hotel at the Convention Center, and the University of Kansas with the Stonehill Lawrence, Trademark Collection by Wyndham.
Copyright 2024 KCTV. All rights reserved.