The 2026 World Cup could generate up to $700 million for area businesses. Some of that will come from people renting their homes to the 650,000 expected visitors to Kansas City.
That process began Monday when Kansas City started taking applications for short-term rentals. The standard annual fee of $200 was cut to $50 for homeowners renting their property between May 3 and July 31.
The city even held a two-day crash course on how to host a short-term rental on sites like Airbnb during the World Cup.
While Wyandotte County hasn't eased its regulations , people have already appeared before Unified Government commissioners seeking short-term rental permits.
However, people do not seem to be rushing to host World Cup visitors.
A report from the Mid-America Regional Council this month showed short-term rental listings dropping next summer. As of October, there were 1,298 listings, according to MARC data. That number drops to 1,002 during the eight-week World Cup window in 2026. However, the median price jumps from $257 to $304, about an 18% increase.
"This pattern suggests hosts are adjusting prices rather than adding new listings," according to the report.
Fancy downtown hotels are a very different story.
Hotels.com shows most downtown hotels at $800 a night in the June to July span when World Cup games are in Kansas City.
Suburban hotels are still available at more reasonable prices.
"I think people should be realistic and expect to pay a little bit more if they're coming in for the tournament, but I still think there are some reasonable prices out there to stay at really nice properties throughout the metro," said Makenzie Wolters with Visit KC.
A short-term rental dashboard by the company Air DNA shows suburban hotel bookings are way up — 3800% in Grandview, 2200% in Gladstone and 1000% in Tonganoxie.
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