Pam Kramer feels like she’s been “living history.” As CEO of KC2026, Kansas City’s World Cup planning committee, she’s spent the past three years racing the clock to plan one of the biggest events in the city’s history.
Earlier this month, Kansas City concluded its hosting duties. But although the tournament is over, Kramer and her team’s work isn’t quite done yet. Organizers are now taking a critical eye to their work — marking successes and analyzing what could have been better, a blueprint of sorts for hosting future major events.
Those events could come sooner than later. Kansas City has submitted bids to host the 2031 FIFA Women’s World Cup, and the Men’s Rugby World Cup the same year. It’s not yet known whether Kansas City will host either tournament, but Kramer said FIFA is “bullish on Kansas City right now.”
“From our standpoint, we've really set up the region to go do big things, whether that's (the) Women's World Cup or something else, and to do it with confidence,” Kramer told KCUR’s Up To Date. “I think there will be a lot of legacy blueprint that we can hand off so that the investment is smaller next time.”
- Pam Kramer, KC2026 CEO
