Kansas City will be one of 2026 World Cup host cities
Watch reaction from Kansas City in the player.
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)
FIFA officials announced Thursday afternoon that Kansas City will be one of the 2026 World Cup host cities.
Other American cities hosting games include Seattle, the San Francisco Bay area, Los Angeles, Dallas, Atlanta and Houston.
Missouri Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe played a big part in submitting the city's proposal. He said the first application was more than 600 pages.
🎉🇺🇸 ᴋᴀɴꜱᴀꜱ ᴄɪᴛʏ 🇺🇸🎉
— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) June 16, 2022
Kansas City is a #FIFAWorldCup 2026 Host City! 🙌#HostCity2026 pic.twitter.com/VKfg2g6svY
"They want to know everything from hotel availability to what your airport is like, Kansas City in this case will have a brand new, shiny airport by 2026," he said in an exclusive interview with ABC 17 ahead of the announcement. "What your venue is like, in this case Arrowhead Stadium, and so lots of details about what that venue would be like. Just different assets that you have around the area like practice fields, etc. for soccer. It's an arduous task."
More than a dozen American cities were in the running to host the event, but Kehoe said that the state of Missouri took one game-changing step in passing legislation to waive the sales tax on World Cup tickets. The legislation is a requirement by FIFA to host the Cup.
"We hope that's caught their attention on how serious we are about hosting this event," Kehoe said.
Kehoe added that having the 2026 World Cup in Kansas City would be big for the entire state.
"The ripple effect for hotel rooms is about 150 miles," he said. "You're talking about Joplin, Springfield, Branson, Lake Ozark, Columbia, St. Joe. The economic impact in those communities will be unbelievable, not to mention what will happen in Kansas City."
Watch ABC17 News at five and six to hear more from the Lieutenant Governor after the official announcement.
