Kansas City-area organizers and a Wyandotte County task force presented plans and early recommendations on July 31 as the region prepares to host multiple World Cup matches in 2026. KC 20|26 staff and the county’s mayoral task force urged local businesses, neighborhoods and volunteers to begin preparations now for a roughly month-long period of events and visitors.

KC 20|26 Chief Operating Officer Lindsay Douglas told the Unified Government commission that the tournament will be “the largest version of the largest tournament in the world,” and that the region should expect heavy travel and long stays. “We expect about 650,000 people will come to the Kansas City region during World Cup,” Douglas said, and KC 20|26 projects about a $653,000,000 direct-spend impact to the region. Douglas said fan-fest activities planned for the World War I Museum site will be capped at roughly 25,000 attendees at one time and that the organization is planning volunteer and small‑business programs to help businesses capture visitor demand.

Alan Carr, chair of the Wyandotte Mayor’s World Cup Readiness Task Force, said the local group’s mission is to make sure Wyandotte County residents and businesses benefit from official events and from visitors who may travel through the county. Carr described four working groups — marketing, on‑site experience, neighborhoods/residents, and businesses/workforce — that produced a 42‑page report and a two‑page summary of recommendations intended to leave a lasting legacy beyond the tournament.

Key task force recommendations and planning items presented
- Small-business outreach and training: KC 20|26 and the task force are compiling lists of about 750 retailers and small businesses across Wyandotte County for targeted communications and marketing assistance, including multilingual resources and guidance on international payment acceptance.
- Volunteer recruitment and ticketing: KC 20|26 will open the official volunteer application in early‑mid August; organizers plan a mobile/tournament app and a cashless approach to transportation passes and fan‑fest tickets to minimize drivers handling cash.
- Transportation: KC 20|26 said the region has contracted 200 buses for tournament service, with contract provisions that allow the host committee to “plus up” by roughly 10% without reprocurement. Jason Sims, KC 20|26’s director of transportation, said modeling indicates the 200 buses will be used for airport‑to‑downtown, downtown‑to‑stadium and fan‑fest‑to‑stadium movement, and KC 20|26 is still sizing park‑and‑ride locations and service frequencies.
- Small-business “KC Game Plan”: A program to help restaurants and retailers estimate demand, register for procurement opportunities and learn how to scale inventory and staff during the tournament.
- Neighborhood outreach and short‑term rentals: Task force members recommended public information toolkits, neighborhood cleanups, and discussion of short‑term rental rules. Task force speakers noted local short‑term‑rental rules (for example, single‑unit or per‑block limits) are municipal policy choices; KC 20|26 shared that rental demand studies (for example, Airbnb analyses) are available and that local communities should determine whether to relax or modify rules temporarily.
- Signage, wayfinding and placemaking: Recommendations include improved wayfinding to help visitors reach historic sites, restaurants and attractions; proposals also cover beautification, additional trash receptacles and promotional banners to define “welcoming gateways.”

Funding and legacy projects
- State appropriation: KC 20|26 and task force members confirmed the State of Kansas appropriated roughly $28 million to support host‑city costs on the Kansas side; Douglas said the funds are allocated across transportation, business attraction/marketing and safety/security as part of regional planning.
- Local fundraising: Visit Kansas City, Kansas announced a fundraising goal of $3,000,000 to underwrite “legacy” items — marketing, wayfinding, neighborhood events and watch‑party support — and said it has hired two women‑owned firms, led by Maureen Mahoney and Lisa Polofsky, to run the campaign.

Watch parties, Memorial Hall proposal and community activations
The task force recommended hosting watch parties and community events in Eastern Wyandotte County to draw visitors between matches. One “big idea” proposed Memorial Hall as a watch‑party hub (indoor, air‑conditioned, with adjacent food vendors and street activations) and suggested using Juneteenth and July 4 dates during the tournament for neighborhood activations and legacy events.

Questions and concerns raised by commissioners and community members
Commissioners probed crowd management, recycling and trash plans, transportation costs and who would collect any revenue from bus or park‑and‑ride charges. KC 20|26 said host‑committee revenue generally stays with the host committee and that FIFA does not receive local transportation revenue, though stadium parking revenue would go to the stadium as the property owner. KC 20|26 also said fan‑festival pass management and any transportation fees are still under discussion and that the tournament will use a cashless ticketing/transportation app to reduce cash handling by drivers.

Community relevance and next steps
Task force presenters emphasized that many recommendations are early and contingent on further details from KC 20|26, FIFA and federal partners. Carr asked commissioners to identify champions for specific items (signage, memorial hall watch parties, neighborhood activations) and to consider whether some short‑term policy adjustments — for example, temporary changes to short‑term‑rental rules — might be appropriate to maximize local benefit.

Speakers
- Lindsay Douglas, Chief Operating Officer, KC 20|26 (COO, host committee) - Alan Carr, chair, Wyandotte Mayor's World Cup Readiness Task Force (Visit KC Kansas) - Jason Sims, Director of Transportation (KC 20|26) - Tracy Wellesley, Director of Regional Impact (KC 20|26) - Pam Curtis, task force work group lead (on‑site experience; state representative present) - Linda Hoskins Sutton, task force neighborhood work group lead - Greg Bridal, Economic Development work group lead - Maureen Mahoney and Lisa Polofsky (fundraising consultants) - David Johnson, Wyandotte County Administrator

Why it matters
The World Cup will bring sustained visitor demand over several weeks, and local planning decisions this year — around transit, volunteer programs, short‑term rental rules, signage and marketing — will shape how much of the economic upside (and disruption) is captured locally. Task force members framed many recommendations as legacy investments, intended to benefit residents and businesses beyond the tournament itself.