Visit KCK outlines World Cup activations and 'Kick It in KCK' campaign; Memorial Hall, watch parties and business readiness highlighted
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Summary
Visit KCK executive director Alan Carr presented a World Cup readiness plan emphasizing the 'Kick It in KCK' brand, watch parties at Memorial Hall, marketing to six host‑region countries, volunteer and business training resources, and partnerships including a sponsor relationship with Anheuser‑Busch.
Alan Carr, executive director of Visit KCK, briefed the Unified Government commission on efforts to welcome visitors for the FIFA World Cup and to direct visitor spending to Wyandotte County businesses.
Carr showed a promotional video and described a four‑pillar approach: marketing, watch parties, visitor experience (signage, brochures in multiple languages), business readiness (training and listing on KC2026/UG portals), and neighborhood/legacy work focused on long‑term public art and placemaking. He said Visit KCK is focusing watch‑party programming on matches that correspond to local sister‑city ties (notably Mexico and Argentina) and will use Spanish broadcasts for those events.
Memorial Hall will serve as a central indoor watch‑party venue; Rocky Mays, Memorial Hall manager, described recent renovations and planning for events that avoid overtime and holiday premium pay. Carr said the organization has engaged sponsors (including Anheuser‑Busch/AB InBev) and local partners to stage a street festival on 7th Street with vendors and cultural programming. He estimated increased web traffic and visitor interest since the World Cup draw, and staff used an illustrative crowd estimate (roughly 502,000 visitors for some events) to show demand, while cautioning final attendance will vary by match schedules and base‑camp arrivals.
Commissioners asked about earliest visitor arrivals, hotel and short‑term rental coordination, hotel kiosks and what businesses can do now. Carr said partners are creating multilingual brochures and a temporary visitor center in the western part of the county in coordination with Nebraska Furniture Mart, and that businesses should list on the KC2026 and UG directories. He reiterated brands and logos for FIFA and 'World Cup' are restricted; businesses may promote watch parties by listing country matchups but must avoid trademarked terms and logos.
Mayor Pro Tem Melissa Bynum and other commissioners emphasized small‑business support; the commission explored whether a portion of the American Royal origination fee could be focused on small‑business readiness tied to World Cup activities. Staff indicated that origination funds must be spent for economic development and that infrastructure or programming tied to economic development could qualify, but that staff would return with options.
What happens next: Visit KCK and UG staff will continue coordination on watch‑party programming, multilingual visitor materials, volunteer recruitment, and business outreach. Commissioners asked for follow‑up about how origination dollars and existing small‑business grants might be used for immediate capacity building ahead of the June–July events.
