Dallas City Hall Reporter
Dallas could spend up to $15 million to get the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center ready to be the media hub for the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup despite ongoing plans to tear it down for a new one.
The City Council will vote Dec. 11 on whether to approve the terms of an eight-month deal with FIFA to use the downtown convention center as the tournament’s international broadcast center, which would host the main feed used to broadcast all World Cup matches and be the home base for thousands of journalists and broadcasters covering the event. The council’s ad hoc committee on professional sports recruitment and retention on Monday approved forwarding the proposal to the full council for a decision.
The costs would go towards fixing the convention center’s roof, installing cargo lifts, making sure the building has enough power and other facility infrastructure changes to accommodate one of the biggest sporting events in the world.
FIFA, soccer’s global governing body, hasn’t yet announced where the World Cup’s international broadcast center will be located. But Dallas officials told council members on Monday that an agreement has been reached with FIFA and the convention center site announcement could come as early as next week.
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“This is an incredible opportunity for Dallas,” said Rosa Fleming, director of the city’s convention and envoy services. She said FIFA’s use of the space isn’t expected to interfere with the building of the estimated $3 billion new convention center in the area, which officials announced earlier this year would be open in 2029.
About $8.5 million of the $15 million was already planned to be spent on the building because the city plans to continue hosting events as construction is occurring, Fleming said. She cited fixes to the roof as an example. City officials in 2022 said about $1 million a year was spent on tarps hung from the ceiling throughout the building to catch water leaking from the roof.
She didn’t specify a full accounting of what expenses are exclusive to FIFA’s use of the city-owned facility, but said a portion of the money could be made back through renting the building and the final price tag may not hit $15 million. The upgrades would be part of FIFA’s contract for using the convention center.
“Right now, if I had a crystal ball, I would say we’re probably not going to spend that entire $15 million,” Fleming said. “I think our negotiations with FIFA are going really well. I think it is just good planning on our part to make sure that we’ve got the approval to set the funds aside so that there’s not a slowdown if we do have to spend that entire amount.”
If approved, the deal would run from January 2026 to August 2026 with FIFA beginning set up work for the site at the start of that year. FIFA would likely fence off the area around the building, but it won’t be clear what streets, sidewalks and other public right-of-ways will be included until late 2025, said Brett Wilkinson, public affairs specialist for Dallas’ convention and event services.
He and Dallas Sports Commission Executive Director Monica Paul said Dallas police would be coordinating with FIFA as part of security planning for the World Cup, which starts June 11, 2026 and ends July 19, 2026. City officials said they are expecting around 2,000 broadcasters working out of the building during that summer.
“When we bid on this in 2017, we were anticipating four or five matches,” Paul said. “Our world has changed a little bit now, with nine matches plus additional layers that we have and we really feel that safety and security is one of the most important things.”
Several council members who sit on the seven-member sports recruitment and retention committee expressed excitement about the World Cup’s impact on Dallas, including a potential spotlight on local businesses and vendors.
“All eyes are going to be on Dallas and so we want to make sure that the convention center is in tip top shape in order to take care of everybody,” said council member Jesse Moreno, who represents the area where the convention center sits.
The 2026 World Cup is being hosted by the U.S., Canada and Mexico across 16 cities. AT&T Stadium in Arlington will host nine matches, including a semi-final game. Along with the broadcast center, Dallas is planning to host FIFA’s fan festival at Fair Park during the entire tournament. Other venues in Dallas and around North Texas slated for use include lodging and training sites for teams, which will be expanded from 32 to 48 starting with the 2026 competition.
Paul said FIFA estimates $2 billion in economic impact to the Dallas-Fort Worth area because of the World Cup. She said local officials are working on having their own updated estimate on its impact done by March. The Dallas Sports Commission previously estimated the tournament would bring $400 million to the DFW area.
Other planning is also underway. The North Central Texas Council of Governments, which aids in regional planning efforts, is requesting written proposals from consultant firms to develop traffic management plans for World Cup events in the Dallas area. The group is planning to budget up to $1 million.
The work is needed because Arlington is one of the largest cities in the country without a public bus or rail system. Hundreds of thousands of people are expected in North Texas for the World Cup.
Paul said a first draft of the mobility plan is due by the end of March and a final plan by the end of 2025.
Everton covers Dallas city government. He joined The Dallas Morning News in November 2020 after previously working for The Oregonian and The Associated Press in Hartford, Conn.
