World Cup 2026 at Arrowhead?

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TheUrbanRoo
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Re: World Cup 2026 at Arrowhead?

Post by TheUrbanRoo »

Kathy Nelson says they're considering doing First Fridays every Friday during June 2026, and also doing Boulevardia every Saturday during the month as well.
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Re: World Cup 2026 at Arrowhead?

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FangKC wrote: Fri Dec 23, 2022 9:37 pm
DColeKC wrote: Fri Dec 23, 2022 4:51 pm
Anthony_Hugo98 wrote: Fri Dec 23, 2022 12:37 pm A lot of the planning has been done quietly it seems, but there has definitely been work going on in the background for the last year or so. The interoperability of organizations for the event definitely needs some work though, as it seems there’s not much coordination with the play makers in town at the moment
I'll disagree a bit here. I'm on a committee that plans these types of events and we have been working with all the major players for a few years. The last pieces of the full-time team who will work on all things World Cup in KC are coming together now.

KC needs some sprucing up and major temp transportation options most.
Which committee plans these events?
There are a few committees that help with the planning of any major sports events coming to town. Committees are ultimately lead by the sports commission. Not to be confused with the actual paid team they're assembling to work on this full time. Committees are made up of industry professionals and various area representatives of certain facilities and services.
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Re: World Cup 2026 at Arrowhead?

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UMKC Roo wrote: Sat Dec 24, 2022 2:41 am Kathy Nelson says they're considering doing First Fridays every Friday during June 2026, and also doing Boulevardia every Saturday during the month as well.
This is a bad idea. City is already putting out the word that street closures will be absolutely minimal for the Draft, so I suspect they'll have the same concern for WC.
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Re: World Cup 2026 at Arrowhead?

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Which imo is an even worse idea. I was excited as hell to be getting the draft and was imagining the event around Union Station... But also having multiple "fan fests" located in the West Bottoms/Plaza/Crossroads/P&L/18th & Vine areas completely closed to traffic and lined with food trucks, bars, booths, etc. for people to engage in different areas other than an isolated park that offers the same view that every person has already seen. It shows we have no creativity or drive to create a one-off event to showcase the city.

All that has been shown so far is that they deemed a repaving of Pershing necessary without any pedestrian improvements to the area.
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Re: World Cup 2026 at Arrowhead?

Post by normalthings »

Gfenn, Are there really enough people to warrant 10 official viewing areas? Liberty Memorial is probably the most impressive location/view to show a visitor.

DCole, I also doesn’t see what the issue with having a few first Friday type events is? Sounds like a mix between a large scale party event at LM with a non-manufactured neighborhood feel in Crossroads.
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Re: World Cup 2026 at Arrowhead?

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I'd guess the announcing events (First Fridays and Boulevardia) every week during the World Cup is just a cleaver way to tell people that it's going to be a big event and to get out the numbers. They're basically saying, "Every weekend night is going to be a party. Come celebrate."

I like the idea of multiple fan fests. You're going to have huge crowds from the other countries that are playing. So, have a German fan fest in the West Bottoms and a Morocco fan fest in front of Union Station. I'm not sure you really want the teams to mingle too much with lots of alcohol right before they battle each other.
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Re: World Cup 2026 at Arrowhead?

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beautyfromashes wrote: Sat Dec 24, 2022 7:36 pm I'd guess the announcing events (First Fridays and Boulevardia) every week during the World Cup is just a cleaver way to tell people that it's going to be a big event and to get out the numbers. They're basically saying, "Every weekend night is going to be a party. Come celebrate."

I like the idea of multiple fan fests. You're going to have huge crowds from the other countries that are playing. So, have a German fan fest in the West Bottoms and a Morocco fan fest in front of Union Station. I'm not sure you really want the teams to mingle too much with lots of alcohol right before they battle each other.
Maybe Crossroads vs. US, but west bottoms would not be a good look
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Re: World Cup 2026 at Arrowhead?

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normalthings wrote: Sat Dec 24, 2022 8:03 pm Maybe Crossroads vs. US, but west bottoms would not be a good look
Why not? We had Boulevardia down there. I’d prefer an event there than at Crown Center. Say you have 10,000 fans per country and all wanted to go to their fan fest. You’d need multiple, separate locations.
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Re: World Cup 2026 at Arrowhead?

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beautyfromashes wrote: Sat Dec 24, 2022 9:14 pm
normalthings wrote: Sat Dec 24, 2022 8:03 pm Maybe Crossroads vs. US, but west bottoms would not be a good look
Why not? We had Boulevardia down there. I’d prefer an event there than at Crown Center. Say you have 10,000 fans per country and all wanted to go to their fan fest. You’d need multiple, separate locations.
It’s fine and fun as a local but imagine traveling around the world to hangout in what is an old abandoned industrial district. If you are wanting to market how modern/nice/bustling KC is, West Bottoms is one of the last places I’d put it.
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Re: World Cup 2026 at Arrowhead?

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normalthings wrote: Sat Dec 24, 2022 10:16 pm
beautyfromashes wrote: Sat Dec 24, 2022 9:14 pm
normalthings wrote: Sat Dec 24, 2022 8:03 pm Maybe Crossroads vs. US, but west bottoms would not be a good look
Why not? We had Boulevardia down there. I’d prefer an event there than at Crown Center. Say you have 10,000 fans per country and all wanted to go to their fan fest. You’d need multiple, separate locations.
It’s fine and fun as a local but imagine traveling around the world to hangout in what is an old abandoned industrial district. If you are wanting to market how modern/nice/bustling KC is, West Bottoms is one of the last places I’d put it.
I'm glad you said that and not me. WB is an up and coming area and interesting if you follow urban issues in American cities. But it's nowhere near a stage in development where it's going to impress anybody. It would actually be a pretty bad image of KC. An American city with an industrial district that is only 100 years old and is half empty lots and vacant/barely used buildings? Even a dated 1970's Crown Center would be much better.

I mean maybe if a whole lot happens between now and 2026 it might have a somewhat better, but I don't think it will even be where the Crossroads is today by 2026 and the Crossroads still has a ways go before it's a fully functioning built out urban neighborhood.

I would concentrate on a few really good locations. And I would bet anything they will try and involve Kansas for political reasons which would also be pretty silly.
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Re: World Cup 2026 at Arrowhead?

Post by TheUrbanRoo »

I love the idea of doing First fridays & Boulevardia every weekend in June 2026. You have different nations coming in every week, so you need to keep it fresh and going for the new crowd each week. It's something we can totally handle in June too. And not even just the foreigners, but the Americans who come in to visit are gonna be for sure surprised at the amount of fun KC is. That's how you can get word to spread from word of mouth and articles.

Fully agree with everything normalthings has said on this topic, including about WB.
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Re: World Cup 2026 at Arrowhead?

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GRID wrote: Sat Dec 24, 2022 11:58 pm I'm glad you said that and not me. WB is an up and coming area and interesting if you follow urban issues in American cities. But it's nowhere near a stage in development where it's going to impress anybody.
And what in Kansas City is going to impress someone from Europe or Saudi Arabia or Korea? I mean, our Union Station is nice. I'm not sure it's better than most major train stations in Paris or Milan or Berlin. What are we offering here? And this isn't a slight by any stretch. I just wonder if building an atmosphere is so much more important than building "place". We have to create better events that draw people and show our generally strong sense of hospitality. This probably will sell more than a few extra buildings that get built, though I'd love to see that happen.
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Re: World Cup 2026 at Arrowhead?

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beautyfromashes wrote: Sun Dec 25, 2022 12:40 am
GRID wrote: Sat Dec 24, 2022 11:58 pm I'm glad you said that and not me. WB is an up and coming area and interesting if you follow urban issues in American cities. But it's nowhere near a stage in development where it's going to impress anybody.
And what in Kansas City is going to impress someone from Europe or Saudi Arabia or Korea? I mean, our Union Station is nice. I'm not sure it's better than most major train stations in Paris or Milan or Berlin. What are we offering here? And this isn't a slight by any stretch. I just wonder if building an atmosphere is so much more important than building "place". We have to create better events that draw people and show our generally strong sense of hospitality. This probably will sell more than a few extra buildings that get built, though I'd love to see that happen.
I guess the takeaway I would want to give a visitor is that KC is a CITY with development, a bit of bustle, and a welcoming atmosphere. A place one would want to visit, conduct trade, or maybe even move to.

Liberty Memorial/Front Lawn/Union Station almost always impresses my guests. It's not NYC but it does have a bigger/more developed city feel that surprises people who haven't been to KC before (in a positive way). It's also just a really great place to host events with a central location, good access, and nearby infrastructure.

West Bottoms is just not a nice place and its a bad location. I love going down there to explore and the history makes it cool but its not even a place most locals would take their guests.

I think you make a good point about trying to reduce mixing. I wonder if that is why the 2nd event location proposed was the Nelson Atkinson lawn.
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Re: World Cup 2026 at Arrowhead?

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Beautyfromashes I have long thought you are the best poster on KcRag, 99.9% agree with everything you've ever said on this site. But...on this one I have to disagree!
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Re: World Cup 2026 at Arrowhead?

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beautyfromashes wrote: Sun Dec 25, 2022 12:40 am
GRID wrote: Sat Dec 24, 2022 11:58 pm I'm glad you said that and not me. WB is an up and coming area and interesting if you follow urban issues in American cities. But it's nowhere near a stage in development where it's going to impress anybody.
And what in Kansas City is going to impress someone from Europe or Saudi Arabia or Korea? I mean, our Union Station is nice. I'm not sure it's better than most major train stations in Paris or Milan or Berlin. What are we offering here? And this isn't a slight by any stretch. I just wonder if building an atmosphere is so much more important than building "place". We have to create better events that draw people and show our generally strong sense of hospitality. This probably will sell more than a few extra buildings that get built, though I'd love to see that happen.
Events at the Live block will impress foreigners and besides the street closure issue, I guess weekly versions of first Fridays and Boulevardia could be cool. I’m not sure how many people will actually be in town for this and I just hope we don’t create too many events or festivals that all suffer due to over-saturation. Some of these things will require additional tickets which means more money out of pocket for guests. I’m betting most all of what PNL does will be free.
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Re: World Cup 2026 at Arrowhead?

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Aren’t the events being planned for tens of thousands of people?
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beautyfromashes
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Re: World Cup 2026 at Arrowhead?

Post by beautyfromashes »

normalthings wrote: Sun Dec 25, 2022 12:46 am I wonder if that is why the 2nd event location proposed was the Nelson Atkinson lawn.
I think this is a great idea. The Nelson is impressive and is close to the Plaza and streetcar. The River Market might make a good location too. Plenty of space, view of DT, on the streetcar.
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Re: World Cup 2026 at Arrowhead?

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UMKC Roo wrote: Sun Dec 25, 2022 3:31 am Beautyfromashes I have long thought you are the best poster on KcRag, 99.9% agree with everything you've ever said on this site. But...on this one I have to disagree!
I don't even agree with my posts that much! I'm sure if I looked at some of them from a few years ago I would cringe. Thank you though!
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Re: World Cup 2026 at Arrowhead?

Post by TheUrbanRoo »

What if had a fan fest event at the Plaza where they do the lighting ceremony? Just shut down the road for the day.
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Re: World Cup 2026 at Arrowhead?

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UMKC Roo wrote: Sun Dec 25, 2022 1:12 pm What if had a fan fest event at the Plaza where they do the lighting ceremony? Just shut down the road for the day.
Not a very open space. Access control is limited. Major impacts to tenants
Last edited by normalthings on Sun Dec 25, 2022 4:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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