The clock is ticking. In less than a year, hundreds of thousands of tourists are expected to descend on Kansas City for the FIFA World Cup.
Local leaders tout it as a once-in-a-generation event, which FIFA estimates will bring $650 million to the region. It is touted as the largest sports event ever, with matches stretching over a month.
With the spotlight on Kansas City, as well as the other 15 host cities, nerves are high.
“Anybody who’s not feeling nervous about it is foolish,” said Kansas City Councilman Wes Rogers, who represents the 2nd District in the Northland. “It’s the biggest sporting event in the history of mankind, and it’s a great opportunity for our city. But it’s incredibly high stakes. We’ve got to get it right.”
Cities across the area are gearing up for six matches to be hosted at Arrowhead Stadium, making plans for transportation, public safety, lodging and a variety of other elements.
Here are five key issues that Kansas City leaders are keeping in mind leading up to the World Cup.
Where will visitors stay in Kansas City for the World Cup?
When Kansas City submitted its bid for the World Cup, it had to demonstrate to FIFA that there were 55,000 hotel rooms available within a two-and-a-half-hour radius of the city.
Many tourists will end up at hotels in the metro area. But travelers will likely stay in other cities as far away as Wichita, Columbia, Springfield, Des Moines and even St. Louis.
That will require a more robust network of transportation so that tourists — many without cars — can get to and from the city.
Some cities in the area are also trying to make space by temporarily loosening restrictions on short-term rentals. That would allow more property owners to rent out their homes during the World Cup. Parkville has already voted to loosen its short-term rental regulations starting in May, and Rogers said Kansas City intends to do something similar soon.
Despite a massive influx of tourists, Pam Kramer, president of the KC2026 organizing committee, is encouraging as many community members as possible to stick around — not just for their own benefit but to help tourists appreciate Kansas City.
“From my own travels, my strongest and fondest memories are the people that I’ve met and encountered and the authentic experience of a culture or a place,” she said. “There is something really different about the hospitality and the authenticity of people here … I’m excited for the world to see that.”
How will Kansas City residents and visitors get to World Cup games?
At a bare minimum, FIFA is expecting that ticketholders will be able to get to and from matches, hotels and the airport. That is a FIFA requirement, and it’s an undertaking on its own.
KC2026 is leasing temporary buses for the duration of the World Cup that will shuttle people between the airport and downtown, as well as between downtown and the stadium.
Rogers said it makes sense for those buses to be temporary, because far fewer people would use those routes during a normal summer.
But Kramer is more excited about how KC2026 is aiming to build a regional transit network during the World Cup to make sure visitors can spread the economic benefits around the metro area to cities like Olathe, North Kansas City, Lee’s Summit and Kansas City, Kansas.
One of KC2026’s goals is to get more people to use public transportation in Kansas City to show them what the public transit network could become with more investment. That, Kramer believes, would be a meaningful legacy for the Kansas City World Cup.
How will Kansas City handle public safety for all the World Cup visitors?
The estimated 650,000 visitors during the World Cup are more than the entire population of the city of Kansas City. That, City Manager Mario Vasquez said, brings some public safety concern.
It’s not so much that he expects visitors to be behaving poorly, he said. It’s just that they may be unpredictable.
During big events like Super Bowl parades, law enforcement may travel in from out of state to provide help — including from Illinois, Kansas, Arkansas or Nebraska. The World Cup is different in that it will be multiple days, rather than a one-time event.
That raises the issue of housing for additional officers who would be staying for several days at a time.
Rogers said the City Council may explore options in the near future.
As far as specific safety concerns, Rogers doesn’t expect gun violence to be an issue at the major fan gatherings around downtown, like the rally at Union Station, because they will have security checkpoints. That, he said, should alleviate some concerns from Kansas Citians who witnessed the mass shooting at the Union Station Super Bowl rally in 2024.
One of Vasquez’s public safety concerns is possible human trafficking or sexual exploitation while tourists are in Kansas City. The Beacon previously reported on sexual exploitation during sporting events in 2023, when the NFL Draft came to town.
How will Kansas City help businesses capitalize on the World Cup?
World Cup visitors will be bringing their wallets, and Kansas City is eager to use the extra business to its advantage.
The Missouri General Assembly voted this year to allow businesses to serve liquor at nearly all hours of the day during the World Cup, and the bill is awaiting Gov. Mike Kehoe’s signature.
Rogers said it will be all the more important to have a temporary modular jail up in time for the World Cup if the city will be keeping bars open until the early hours of the morning.
The Kansas City Council has also pursued legislation to help small-business owners fill vacant storefronts during the World Cup. The hope is that a few successful weekends during the event will help those business owners afford a full-time space.
Rogers said that one way to look at the World Cup is that it will bring 650,000 visitors over five weeks, which will bring economic activity during that time.
But, he said, “what we really need to do is make sure that (those) five weeks are the beginning of the next chapter for Kansas City.”
That means sustainable changes that last much longer than just those few weeks.
Rogers said there’s a place for both kinds of development, and they can work hand-in-hand.
For example, the City Council is also going to be giving grants to small businesses to provide outdoor dining. That’s a short-term solution for the World Cup. But if that’s paired with policy changes, like reducing the fees for outdoor dining, it can become a solution that can be sustainable long after the World Cup is over.
“We don’t just want to, you know, duct tape everything together so we can hold it for a few weeks,” he said. “We want this to be a long-term thing.”
As far as bigger construction projects, Kansas City plans to have its new Berkley Riverfront streetcar extension open before the World Cup, and the city has broken ground on a new parking garage in the 18th and Vine district.
The city is also renovating Barney Allis Plaza to hopefully make it a gathering place for fans. But because of some issues on site, Barney Allis Plaza may not be complete in time for the World Cup, Vasquez said.
Getting things done in time can be a challenge.
Vasquez said that if any property owners want to get a project done before the World Cup, like a new outdoor bar at a restaurant, they need to get their permit applications as soon as possible. It’s likely too late to start new major construction.
Will the Trump administration's policies hurt tourism for the World Cup?
Some Kansas City leaders are concerned that the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown could hinder the city’s ability to attract international tourists.
Since his inauguration, tourists have been detained at the border during their travel in the United States. That includes a British tourist who was detained in Tacoma, Washington, as well as an American woman’s German fiancé, who was deported after two weeks at a detention center.
Several countries have issued travel advisories, particularly for transgender travelers whose gender markers could get flagged upon entry to the United States.
“I know we’ll have visitors probably from close to 100 countries. We want them to come. We want them to celebrate. We want them to watch the game,” Vice President J.D. Vance said. “But when the time is up, they’ll have to go home. Otherwise, they’ll have to talk to (Homeland Security) Secretary (Kristi) Noem.”
Rogers is concerned.
“We’ve got this great economic opportunity,” he said, “and frankly, a great cultural opportunity to remind people that America, despite some of the rhetoric, is still the most open and welcoming and diverse country in the world. And yeah, I’m really worried that we’re going to present a different face than that and then scare people away because of it.”
A representative from FIFA declined to respond to those concerns but said that nearly 1.5 million tickets have been sold so far for this year’s Club World Cup, speaking to global enthusiasm for U.S.-hosted matches.
This story was originally published by The Beacon, a fellow member of the KC Media Collective.
