Kansas City eyeing other international events after World Cup success
Throughout the four weeks of World Cup matches in Kansas City, Kathy Nelson continually got emails from people she didn't know about hosting events in Kansas City.
"I'm caught off guard at times," she said. "I received an email from a youth event in Kazakhstan and said, 'We'd like to pay for you to come over here in this month, in July, spend a week with us, see our world games that we do because we think you'd be a perfect fit for this.'"
Nelson, the President of Kansas City Sports Commission and CEO of Visit Kansas City, said she probably won't go to Kazakhstan, but it illustrates her point. Kansas City is on the radar of decision-makers across the world because of the World Cup's time in KC.
"Exceptionally well," Nelson said. "Extremely proud. Heartfelt moments and memories. Thousands and millions and billions of people got to see what Kansas City is all about."
Nelson said the six World Cup matches brought unprecedented attention and PR to KC that would actually be impossible to pay for.
"Our media impressions for Visit KC alone, just Visit KC over five weeks, was 13,240,000,000," Nelson said.
Nelson said that was just in the lead-up to the Quarterfinal match between Argentina and Switzerland.
Before the World Cup started, Nelson said they were hoping to get a billion media impressions. They've never had an event come close to that number.
"That's when someone clicks on an article, or someone is clicking on something through social media, where they see something that has been posted by their team or their country, and it clicks back to us. That's where we're noticing all that pick up again, just for Visit KC. That doesn't include anything. The mayor or Kansas City, Missouri, or KC2026 has done."
As Nelson pauses for high-fives with the hundreds of people who made the World Cup happen, she's also looking ahead.
"The door is certainly open very wide for us," Nelson said. "I have almost daily received inquiries from around the world about, 'Hey, come check out our event. We'd love to consider Kansas City. We had never thought about Kansas City before.'"
But when could KC be back on the world stage? Sooner than you think.
Nelson said the city hopes to learn whether it has been selected as a host city for the Men's Rugby World Cup in 2031. The tournament will be played in the U.S. for the first time, and Nelson thinks they have a great shot of becoming a host city.
Nelson said the organizer for the Rugby World Cup texted and emailed her during KC World Cup matches.
"A lot of 'Great job!' and 'This looks like it was seamless,'" Nelson said. "And each time one of them sent me a note, I replied, 'Rugby's going to look just as good!'"
2031 could be a busy year. Nelson said the United States should find out soon if its bid to host the FIFA Women's World Cup is accepted for 2031.
"We have high hopes for that," Nelson said. "We've partnered with Mexico, Jamaica, Costa Rica on that bid. We do not believe there's someone else bidding against us, but that will be awarded later this year. And if so, then we kick into high gear."
Getting a bid to host matches for the 2031 FIFA Women's World Cup isn't a guarantee, but Nelson believes they had a strong chance after the city's showing this past month.
"That has proven to the world that we are here, we are ready, and we're open for business," Nelson said.
Arrowhead Stadium could shine again on the international stage, but its replacement will be preparing for its opening season of NFL football in 2031. Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas said he'll push for any 2031 Women's World Cup bid to be hosted at Arrowhead.
"It is an outstanding facility," Lucas said. "I think FIFA agrees that it looks great on television. It looks great for all of our guests, and so that's where it would be."
Nelson added Kansas City will be able to offer FIFA a bevy of options for 2031 matches.
"Between the current Arrowhead, the new NFL stadium being built, an expanded CPKC stadium and then we still have all these incredible venues from Sporting Park, of course, and then the training facilities, Campus Mineral, the KC Current training facility," she said. "I mean, all those things still come into play with all these bids."
The biggest event of them all will always be the Men's World Cup. Right now, the 2030 and 2034 World Cups are spoken for. But speculation has been growing online that the U.S. could bid to host the 2038 World Cup.
Running back the last month in 2038 has come to Nelson's mind.
"Elected leaders, team owners would need to get around the table and say, 'Are we all in?' I would really doubt the answer would be no," Nelson said.
2038 might seem far out, but Nelson said they started working on the bid for this World Cup 11 years ago. If the U.S. did bid to host again in 2038, they would start working on their own proposal soon.
"We're working on events right now through 2036," Nelson said. "So really in the next year or two, 2038 is on our doorstep."
Lucas, whose term will end in July 2027, said Kansas City should absolutely be hosting more worldwide events in the years to come.
"I respect other American cities, but I'll tell you this here right now, I think we're more exciting than Indianapolis, more exciting than Denver," Lucas said. "I think every big thing should be here, and I'm ready to have that fight as we look for major events, not just in 2031, but long after."
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