The FIFA World Cup is rolling into Kansas City, Missouri, and with it, over 650,000 visitors. Not only can the city expect an economic boom, but the impacts will be seen in surrounding areas — including Maryville.
From June 16 through July 11, this international soccer tournament will bring teams and fans from across the globe to this, notably smaller in size, city. Over the many years and venues by which the World Cup has been hosted, Kansas City is the smallest yet to be awarded the opportunity. However, the preparation is not lacking in size.
Public Information Officer for the Kansas City Aviation Department Jackson Overstreet said the Kansas City International Airport is expecting to welcome approximately 62,000 additional passengers this June, compared to last year, which will account for about a 4.6% increase. He said to compensate, there will be an additional 312 flights that month. Overstreet said while these two months will be busy, the airport staff feels prepared to take it on.
“I mean, this is such a big deal for the U.S. to be hosting the World Cup — for Kansas City to have six games, be the smallest city of the 16 host cities — and we have a lot of pride in that, so there’s a lot of excitement, a lot of wanting to show the world what we can do,” Overstreet said.
To prepare, he said the airport is working to ensure the departments are in working order, which includes aptly preparing everyone who works in the terminals. Another focus is looking into how the security team can work efficiently and safely.
He said a large portion of the preparation is creating a game plan for the busy days. For example, making sure the baggage handling system is ready.
“Vanderlande, the company that runs our baggage handling system inside the terminal, they spent most of February testing our baggage handling system,” Overstreet said. “So that was — it’s kind of two different tracks on either end of the terminal — and so it’d be shutting down one and putting all the baggage through the other one to test that kind of increased amount of baggage and how their staff handles it. It would be checking for maintenance issues ahead of time, seeing what can be fixed before the World Cup travel season and what can be patched up and saved for after.”
Overstreet said MCI is expecting June 26 to be one of the busiest dates, as there will be matches ending and others about to start. He said the airport staff feels pride knowing the impressions they can make on the many first-time Kansas City visitors.
“This may be,if it’s their first time in the U.S., it’s their first time in Kansas City, and so when they get off their plane and go through our terminal, that’s the first thing they’re going to see for the city,” Overstreet said.
Maryville Tourism Director DeAnn Davison said one of the largest factors to consider while bringing the World Cup to Kansas City is public safety. She said Maryville residents, and those in surrounding areas, should expect to see people whom they are not used to.
In these busy months, she said communication between local police departments, the University Police Department and other important agencies will be key.
Davison said the specifics are not yet known regarding the exact impact the World Cup will bring to surrounding cities. She said Maryville can expect to see some travelers from the north.
“We definitely know the large amount of visitors that are coming into the area, and when we think about them traveling from the north, places like Minneapolis and Chicago, they come down to Kansas City as a domestic traveler; there’s definitely an opportunity that they may stop in and see us,” Davison said.
Overstreet agreed with Davison that communication between departments and agencies is going to be one of the most important items during the World Cup season.
“I think the big thing for for everyone during the World Cup is going to be communication, whether it is us to KC2026, over the direct bus that is going from from the airport down to the fan fest downtown, whether it’s us communicating with our local, state and federal law enforcement partners on everything, making sure that they know what’s going on with us, and it’s communicating with our federal partners like TSA, like the FAA and air traffic control and making sure that they know how the airport is operating, what we’re dealing with, and then that their staff, are able to relay back to us what they need from us,” Overstreet said.
Another agency preparing for the increase in visitors is the Missouri Department of Transportation. Matthew Stine, an area engineer for MoDOT, said any individual who will be driving during this time — whether they are visiting or a resident — should reference the MoDOT traveler information app. He said this will show where there are traffic delays along a user’s route.
During June and July, Stine said road work in Kansas City will stop to increase the capacity of the roads.
“So we’re expecting, like, hundreds of thousands of people or visitors to Missouri during this, so to get ready for all that, MoDOT, we’ve been working, we’ve been planning and coordinating with different agencies to help mitigate these traffic impacts caused by the influx of visitors,” Stine said.
He said there will be two working zones in northwest Missouri during the World Cup season. The first is on Interstate 29, between St. Joseph and Platte City, Missouri, which includes a resurfacing project, and a pavement repair project on I-35, between Cameron, Missouri and Lathrop, Missouri. Stine said this will cause the interstate to be down to two lanes during the World Cup.
Regardless, Stine said MoDOT is ready for any changes or concerns that come its way. He said it is prepared with extra maintenance and emergency personnel who will be on call if needed.
Davison said it is likely that if some visitors are staying for long periods of time, they will venture throughout the Midwest between games. She said the large number of visitors is going to have a positive impact on the local economy.
“So when you think of getting those visitors from outside the area, you know that’s new dollars coming into the community,” Davison said. “We’re not just turning those same dollars over and over again, so we always want to definitely provide an excellent experience for anyone that is not familiar with Maryville, or maybe had a relationship with the town at one point…we definitely want to welcome them back and let them know that we’re happy to have them.”
She said bringing in these visitors and urging them to use their money on the local accommodations, like Northwest and Mozingo Lake Recreation Park, is a tremendous economic driver.
All in all, Davison said she is excited for the opportunity to host new travelers.
“I’m just really looking forward to the potential to maybe have some visitors and just provide a really welcoming experience, and so people can see how special of a place Maryville is and experience all of the different intricacies that we have as a small town,” Davison said.
This story is brought to KXCV-KRNW by The Northwest Missourian, the campus newspaper of Northwest Missouri State University.