North Texas is about to ramp up efforts in a major way to land the 2026 FIFA World Cup and the hundreds of millions of dollars that could come with it.
AT&T Stadium is a finalist location which would put North Texas in the heart of the action. The selection committee is set to start visiting host city hopefuls in March.
There are currently 17 United States cities still in the running to host matches.
Host city hopefuls:
- Arlington/Dallas
- Atlanta
- Baltimore
- Boston
- Cincinnati
- Denver
- Houston
- Kansas City
- Los Angeles
- Miami
- Nashville
- New York/New Jersey
- Orlando
- Philadelphia
- San Francisco/Bay Area
- Seattle
- Washington, DC
Sixty matches will be played in the United States including every match from the quarter finals onward.
The financial forecast for the host cities is a $400 million impact, 3,000 jobs and $9 million in tax revenue.
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The selection team will visit host teams in March and November with the North Texas trip in March. The selection will be announced by late 2020 or early 2021.
While the World Cup is not until 2026, the real work to pitch North Texas starts next month with major planning starting now. Several governments, tourism officials, business leaders and sports organizations will work together to pitch the North Texas region.
“I think anything we can do to showcase this community across all cities can support soccer on a very high level. I think that is critical for us,” Gina Miller with FC Dallas said in a presentation to Arlington City Council.
“One asset that we have is that we have arguably one of the most beautiful facilities in the world when it comes to a stadium. We have a great airport. We have great hospitality venues, food and beverage,” Miller added. “[We have] staff and people who are excited to work and contribute to the sports conversation, because sports is what we do here in North Texas.”
When Dallas hosted six matches in the 1994 World Cup it brought in $304 million.
