“The economic impact is staggering,” Dill said. “People are bringing their money from the outside market and spending it here with local businesses, supporting jobs and paying sales tax, and then they will go back home and leave all the money in our economy.”
On June 16, Dallas was announced as one of 16 North American cities to host World Cup matches in the summer of 2026. In the bid to bring the World Cup to Dallas, AT&T Stadium in Arlington was designated to serve as the site for soccer matches, and the Toyota Stadium and Toyota Sports Complex in Frisco were allocated as spaces for practicing and could act as a “basecamp” for a participating team.
Dallas is also in the running to become the international broadcast center as well as referee training and headquarters, according to the Dallas Sports Commission’s website.
“People pay a lot of attention to sports, especially large events like the World Cup, but it allows us to really focus on the other things that Frisco does as well,” Dill said.
A study conducted in 2018 by the Boston Consulting Group for The United States Soccer Federation found that each host city could generate at least $160 million-$620 million in incremental economic activity, which is additional revenue generated for the city. Dill said sports are a way to reinvest in the city and showcase other city areas.
“We have so many vibrant things, like the arts happening here, and sports is really the catalyst in getting people here and then being able to show them all that other stuff that makes events like the World Cup a great thing to capitalize on,” Dill said.
Although the Dallas Cowboys organization is involved in the bid, there are no plans to use the Ford Center in the World Cup, according to Dill. The National Soccer Hall of Fame, also in Frisco, could be used in some capacity, but plans have not been finalized.
“We haven’t had any specific discussions yet about how many matches and what level of matches [will be hosted at AT&T Stadium], but over the next year we’re going to be trying to fight for not only which games go where but also there’s elements, like the referee headquarters, that can be in Dallas,” Dill said.
The number of games, levels and additional delegations are expected to be finalized by the end of 2023, according to Dill. A Dallas host committee will be established in January 2023.
