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City staff says it will submit roughly $1.7 million FEMA pass-through grant for World Cup fan zones

Spokane City Council · February 3, 2026

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Summary

City staff told council it will submit a safety and security grant (FEMA pass-through) of about $1.7 million to support fan zones and a possible team base camp for World Cup events; the request includes overtime for SPD and SFD, barriers and a 5% management allocation (about $85,000).

City staff informed the Spokane City Council that the administration will submit a safety and security grant application today tied to World Cup events, seeking roughly $1.7 million to cover a mix of event operations and public-safety costs.

Alex Scott said the team will submit the grant by the 5 p.m. deadline and that the application is in partnership with Spokane Sports and Gonzaga University. Scott said the funds would help pay for Spokane Police Department and Spokane Fire Department overtime, crowd-control devices and other event infrastructure; some costs would be borne by Spokane Sports and Gonzaga and some would be administrative or indirect city expenses.

Cole from the grants office said the award allocates 5% automatically for management — about $85,000 — and noted the grant is a FEMA pass-through that could be administered over several years. Scott said a team base camp, if secured, would likely begin in mid-to-late May and tournament activities would run through mid-July. He said two large-scale fan zone activations are planned in the pavilion (a June activation tied to Juneteenth programming and a final match activation in July).

Scott said the city and Spokane County are co-hosting the fan zone; Spokane Sports Commission and Visit Spokane will support programming and build-out. "The fan zone will be awesome," Scott said, describing large screens and wraparound activities in the pavilion.

Councilors requested additional details to be presented at an upcoming Urban Experience meeting, where staff expect to bring Ashley Blake and Rose Noble to provide a fuller briefing.