NFL Draft

[FangKC]

It was great to see so many people out walking. 20th street was packed on Saturday. I guess that was the urban street closest to the event. I'm glad it got that cleaned up a few years back. It makes an great 'urban street'.

There were a lot of people walking on Grand and Main too.

Think how much more pleasant Grand would have been for those walking had the City planted trees, and done landscaping, starting back in 2011 when there was a push intended to Make Grand Grand.

viewtopic.php?p=468267&hilit=Make+Grand+Grand#p468267

[langosta]

It was great to see so many people out walking. 20th street was packed on Saturday. I guess that was the urban street closest to the event. I'm glad it got that cleaned up a few years back. It makes an great 'urban street'.

There were a lot of people walking on Grand and Main too.

Think how much more pleasant Grand would have been for those walking had the City planted trees, and done landscaping, starting back in 2011 when there was a push intended to Make Grand Grand.

viewtopic.php?p=468267&hilit=Make+Grand+Grand#p468267

What fascinates me now that I have had to deal with public works over the past 2 years is how car-brained the department is.

The only way to get some things moving in the right direction is taking the issue to the City Manager or council members (who send you to the City Manager if they support it). It is part of why I am skeptical of claims of micro-managing, etc. Would not need the powers to be to step in if there wasnt so many car loving anti urbanists working for the city.

[FangKC]

It's the responsibility of the City Manager to see that city staff are retrained in the City's priorities, and change in policies.

[langosta]

It's the responsibility of the City Manager to see that city staff are retrained in the City's priorities, and change in policies.

and thats why much of the grumbling does not bother me

[Highlander]

Sounds like the draft hurt small businesses. World Cup will do the same.

Yeah, that's a terrible take. The draft may have hurt a handful nof small businesses, but it definitely helped others. I'm sure it was more of a net positive.

And the World Cup will be an entirely different animal. For one, the draft was three days, the World Cup might cover three weeks in KC. The draft was a more self-contained event. People could spend the whole day at the experience and eat and drink at the vendors there. The same won't be true for the World Cup.

The World Cup will also bring in a considerably higher number of visitors and there won't be as much congestion focused on one single point that might drive away locals worried about parking/traffic.

Given the nature of the NFL draft (self contained, high security, roads closed, streetcar with restricted range), none of the complaints surprised me. I had been to downtown a few times while the NFL was setting up and it was enough of a hassle that I wasn't going to go downtown during the draft unless I actually attended the draft. I don't see the World Cup having near as much impact in downtown. It may be busy but I hope we don't have extensive road shutdowns like we did for the draft,

As you say, the crowd will be completely different. I suspect the Crossroad Breweries will be full (rather than dead as they were for the draft) because it won't be the Bud Lite crowd that stays in the draft perimeter and drinks at their hotel and also because locals won't be apprehensive about going into the area. One thing the crossroads breweries should do is put together a map of breweries and pub crawls while the world cup visitors are in town. That would go down big with an international (and especially European) crowd.

The other HUGE difference will be that the streetcar will be running to the Plaza by the time the world cup comes around allowing the world cup crowd to be dispersed and allowing locals to park along that route and head downtown on the hassle-free streetcar.

[shinatoo]

This is a PR event, as much for the nation as it is for suburban Kansas Citians. You have to draw people into downtown, for a great experience, so they wake up next Saturday and add "go downtown" to the list of things they might do today.

Sometimes you have to spend a buck to make two; for many businesses downtown, that's what this weekend was about.

To their credit, most of those interviewed understood this. While disappointed because the upturn in their business was overhyped, they understand the long-term benefits of having significant events like this. Familiarity and confidence in downtown by visitors, and money spent at other businesses will soon turn into money spent at their businesses.

[ericwyner]

was it even necessary for the KCMOSD to avoid in person classes since no schools are located in the area and no bus routes would have been affected?

[ericwyner]

This is a PR event, as much for the nation as it is for suburban Kansas Citians. You have to draw people into downtown, for a great experience, so they wake up next Saturday and add "go downtown" to the list of things they might do today.

much like a political convention where the delegates spend most of the time at the convention site and hotels, but you got lots of local/regional news coverage

[dukuboy1]

The World Cup will be vastly different than the NFL Draft. The World cup will last 1-2 weeks of acitivity in and around the city? I'm asking because I am not sure. But with matches being played at Arrowhead and then Team using the city as a training site I would assume it would be more drawn out over time.

Plus, outside of the matches there will be fan experiences in a few different locations, unlike the draft having one central & only area for all events. The NFL draft was 4 days of the NFL wanting you to go to the draft area and really only that area. Perhaps there was an NFL sponsored party somewhere close but the event was the thing.

World Cup, the matches are the thing and in-between those is when the fans will get out and explore the city. So downtown, and really the entire METRO to a degree really need to figure out how to promote the KC brand and encourage people to get out and explore what we have to offer. I think the pace of the world cup will allow for visitors to explore more. Say you are going to spend4 days in KC to watch 2 matches or whatever. You are on vacation with some downtime, this is when you explore.

I know if I go to a new city for a sporting event I try to plan the trip to watch the game(s) but also enough time to get out and about. If anything the draft showed how we could handle things and shined a light on what needs to be done to maximize the opportunity of the world cup.

[beautyfromashes]

Crown Center charged $50 to park on a day it would usually be free. So, what’s the problem?!? Distribute some of that money to the businesses that lost traffic because of it.

[KCtoBrooklyn]

The World Cup will be vastly different than the NFL Draft. The World cup will last 1-2 weeks of acitivity in and around the city?

They haven't announced any details on the schedule, but I would think a bare minimum of 2 weeks (not including any teams training here before the World Cup).

Typically, the World Cup runs about a month in total (with teams arriving for training 1-2 weeks prior). With the expanded field, I'm not sure if the 2026 will last longer. KC is very unlikely to host late round knockout stage matches, but could host in the first round.

The estimates are 6 to 8 matches per city. My guess is that KC will be on the low end and host 6 matches over about 2.5 weeks.

But there might be some sort of Fan Fest going on for the whole duration of the World Cup. Something like the NFL Experience on the south lawn of Liberty Memorial with watch parties, etc. It won't draw 100k people per day like the Draft, but that could be a good thing, causing less disruption.

[dukuboy1]

thanks for the schedule. Definitely a longer duration for sure, with more opportunities for events, etc. for the city to shine. Will be interesting to see what they do. I'd approach more like a long convection and really promote the entirety of downtown, river market, river front, crossroads, BLVD, midtown, plaza, Brookside, Waldo, and even points outside that core. Going to be a unique opportunity for the city for sure.

[TheSmokinPun]

I really don't think people realize the overall scope of how many people are going to come, FOR A WHILE, for the WC. I know people from St. Louis who have pretty much said they'll camp out in my family's lawn for the whole thing if they can't find any hotels in the entire metro. We might have to tap into the dorms at UMKC/Rockhurst even.

[Metro]

Sounds like the draft hurt small businesses. World Cup will do the same.

Yeah, that's a terrible take. The draft may have hurt a handful nof small businesses, but it definitely helped others. I'm sure it was more of a net positive.

And the World Cup will be an entirely different animal. For one, the draft was three days, the World Cup might cover three weeks in KC. The draft was a more self-contained event. People could spend the whole day at the experience and eat and drink at the vendors there. The same won't be true for the World Cup.

The World Cup will also bring in a considerably higher number of visitors and there won't be as much congestion focused on one single point that might drive away locals worried about parking/traffic.

This is incorrect.

[DaveKCMO]

Main Street is finally open, Pershing is supposed to fully open today. I was shoo'd away (on foot, anyway) from the area in front of the station by the teardown folks this morning.

[beautyfromashes]

Main Street is finally open, Pershing is supposed to fully open today. I was shoo'd away (on foot, anyway) from the area in front of the station by the teardown folks this morning.

They let me walk through to the front entrance on Tuesday. There were a TON of loose screws on the parking lot that I saw and even a few on Pershing. Drive/park through there carefully when it does fully open again.

[Cratedigger]

Numbers from the draft are in per Visit KC

According to data compiled by Visit KC, that total economic impact of $164.3 million included $108.8 million created in direct spending and $55.5 million in induced/indirect impact.

Of the direct spending, 60% was produced through accommodations, 18% through food and beverage, 8% through business services, 6% through transportation and about 4% through retail and recreation.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jefffedoti ... 29269c7d0d

[langosta]

KC needs to try and host this again