SOME EARLY SIGNS SAY PERHAPS NOT
It’s still early, but there are some signs that perhaps government entities may want to chill their FIFA World Cup expectations a bit, at least as far as number of anticipated visitors and the size of a potential spike in revenues.
Six World Cup soccer matches will be held in Kansas City from June 16 to July 11. Four of those teams have selected the Kansas City region as their base camp during the tournament.
Estimates being used by KC2026, the local organizing committee, have estimated approximately 650,000 visitors and $653 million in direct economic impact across the Kansas City region. But some closer scrutiny is beginning to question whether those estimated sizable impacts will turn out to be reality.
For instance, the Kansas City Star has reported flight data for the month of June at KCI International Airport is showing only a modest 4.6% increase in seat capacity at the airport compared to June of 2025. And June of 2025 had shown a decrease of four percent compared to 2024. So the current flight data for KCI in June of this year would only bring the airport back to its numbers from June 2024, a sign that the anticipated surge in air travel demand hasn’t materialized in booking data, at least not yet.
One possible factor at play could be that international tourism to the United States has been down significantly in the past year, marked by a sustained months-long slump throughout 2025 and early 2026. International arrivals into the United States fell by about 14% by mid 2025, and in January of 2026 international arrivals fell by nearly five percent nationwide compared to January of 2025.
Experts say contributing factors to the international tourism slump in the United States include stricter border controls, political tensions and high visa fees.
More specifically in Platte County, Platte County Auditor Kevin Robinson does not recommend increasing the county’s current sales tax revenue projections based on any inflow of World Cup-related spending by visitors.
“Local capacity constraints, particularly in lodging and dining, combined with substitution effects and economic leakage may potentially limit the county’s direct fiscal benefit,” Robinson says.
Robinson explains the substitution or displacement effect like this:
“For example, a Kansas City family spending $300-$400 on World Cup tickets may choose not to attend a Royals game the same week, dine out less, or reduce other discretionary spending. This type of spending represents a horizontal reallocation of disposable income rather than new net economic activity. Such spending is economically neutral and does not materially increase potential sales tax collections,” the auditor said this week.
Currently, Robinson estimates that net sales tax revenue impact from World Cup for Platte County could be anywhere frm $238,000 to $402,000 in lodging, hospitality and retail tax revenue. That’s after accounting for the historical displacement effects.
“While a measurable increase in economic activity is likely, historical evidence indicates that realized fiscal impacts are often significantly lower than initial projections due to behavioral and structural economic factors,” Robinson notes.
Robinson said based on available data, Platte County could have about 48,000 to 52,000 visitors during the 39-day tournament period.
“Given the relatively modest and uncertain net fiscal impact, I do not recommend amending the county’s current sales tax projections as approved for the 2026 fiscal budget,” Robinson wrote in a report he presented to the county commission recently.
For historical perspective, Robinson said when Germany hosted the World Cup in 2006 pre-event projections anticipated a major economic expansion. However, a post-event analysis by the Deutsche Bundesbank and academic research found a more modest outcome.
Research by economist Wolfgang Maennig documented that increased foreign tourism spending was partially offset by a 21.6% decline in domestic tourism spending, as local residents temporarily left host cities to avoid congestion and elevated prices.
This phenomenon is commonly referred to as the “carnival effect.”
PLATTE COUNTY
HOTEL TRAFFIC
Hotels along the KCI corridor near the Kansas City International Airport typically report average occupancy of about 70 percent during the months of May and June. That statistic is driven by airline crews, logistics operations, park-and-fly travelers and regional events such as baseball and soccer tournaments.
That would leave 30 percent of Platte County hotel rooms available for World Cup-related guests.
Robinson’s report indicates average nightly room rates in the corridor are estimated between $130 and $150 but could reasonably increase to $220-$290 during the World Cup.
With FIFA opening the remaining tier of match tickets the first of this month, Jennifer Goering director of the Platte County Convention and Visitors Bureau, says it’s still too early to see if there a corresponding increase in hotel room bookings.
“We are a little over eight weeks out, so the 6-8 week preferred window of hotel room reservations is rapidly approaching. This will give an initial view on if the hotels will see an increase and how significant that might be,” she told The Landmark on April 10.
Robinson says it’s possible hotel demand in Platte County might not be as strong as earlier predicted.
During the host city bidding process, several major Downtown Kansas City hotels committed significant blocks of rooms to FIFA personnel, corporate sponsors and media partners. Robinson said FIFA has since released portions of those previously reserved rooms, which as a result could reduce regional overflow demand and lower Platte County’s occupancy rate and sales tax collections.
According to Robinson, some consumer demand may shift to short-term rental properties, many of which are owned by institutional investors who acquired properties specifically to capitalize on the tournament.
Goering said she may get a better idea of the outlook for Platte County hotels soon.
“We have scheduled a hotel meeting on April 22 to discuss World Cup security, emergency management plans. This will be a good opportunity to see where room reservations/occupancy is currently at for the hotels,” the CVB director explained. She said Platte and Clay County hotels will take part in that meeting, as well as law enforcement officials.
“Wish I could give you more precise information and numbers but it’s still too early to tell. I think we’ll see higher occupancies the day before each match at Arrowhead and also the day of. Then you might see some ebb and flow, with some fans departing and then others arriving. Basically the window for the highest occupancy will be June 11 to July 11,” she said.
Goering added that the base camps at KC Current Training Facility, Compass Minerals, Swope Village and Rock Chalk Park will definitely assist with an early increase of visitors to the Kansas City region.
“Netherlands expects upwards of 3,000 to 4,000 fans coming in to take part in their base camp preparations. This can be a mix of international fans plus Midwest/US fans,” she said.
“We also have three of the top seven teams in Kansas City for base camp, so the farther they advance in the tournament the likelihood of their fans staying in Kansas City also increases, which benefit the hotels,” Goering remarked.
HOTEL LOCATIONS FOR
WORLD CUP TEAMS
The locations of the hotels to be used by the four World Cup teams with base camps in the Kansas City region has become public information.
Team Argentina will be staying at the Origin Hotel on the Berkley Riverfront in Kansas City, Mo. Argentina will be training at Sporting Kansas City’s Compass Minerals National Performance Center, which is on Parallel Parkway in Kansas City, Kan. not far from Children’s Mercy Park at Legends.
Netherlands will be training at the KC Current’s practice facility in Riverside in Platte County, but has chosen the Cascade Hotel near the Country Club Plaza for its stay. The Dutch will have about a 25-minute drive from their hotel to their base camp in Riverside.
England’s team will train at Swope Soccer Village but will stay at the Inn at Meadowbrook in Prairie Village, Kan.
Algeria will train at Rock Chalk Park in Lawrence and will stay at the Oread Hotel in Lawrence.
MARKETING PARTNERSHIP
According to Goering of the Platte County Convention and Visitors Bureau, Platte County and Clay County have a marketing partnership for World Cup–Go North KC.
“It represents the Northland, both counties and all the communities within those two counties. We are currently running an advertising campaign that focuses on Midwest visitors and the youth soccer market,” she said.
“The response has been overwhelmingly positive and Go North KC will remain in place after the World Cup,” she stated.
Goering said there will be seven World Cup watch parties: June 12 at Liberty High School; June 16 at Central Bank Sporting Complex; June 19 at Kearney’s Jesse James Park; June 20 in Gladstone at Happy Rock Park; June 27 at Zona Rosa; July 3 at the new Morton Amphitheater in Riverside; and July 11 in North Kansas City.
