Starting in mid-June, both Arlington and Houston will each host a series of FIFA World Cup games. Thousands of international soccer fans will flock to these cities in what some have described as hosting multiple Super Bowls in one month.
It’s a major logistical undertaking and local planning organizations are helping make it happen.
Monica Paul, the president of the North Texas FIFA World Cup Organizing Committee, said the World Cup is a great chance to show Dallas off on a global stage. Planning has been underway for quite a while: the bidding process to be a host city started almost a decade ago.
“We went through that process and it is all about ensuring that you have the infrastructure and that you experience hosting major events,” she said. “We definitely have a world-class stadium, AT&T Stadium. Something that was very key for us, during this bid process, was the opportunity to host the International Broadcast Centre once again. Dallas hosted it in 1994.”
The Organizing Committee is also involved in public safety and transportation planning for the cup.
“We have working groups assessing all our safety and security needs,” Paul said. “(There are) 18 different expert planning teams and subcommittees along with it and we’re working at the federal state and local levels and here regionally because our footprint is Dallas, Fort Worth, Arlington, Frisco and many places in between based on where some of our venues are located.”
On the transportation side, they are coordinating with the North Central Texas Council of Governments, Paul said.
“(We’re) working with our transit agencies and Trinity Metro, Trinity Railway Express, and DART on utilization of the rail system to get spectators to and from games, as well as those broadcasters,” she said. “A lot of work with rideshare companies and our airports, wanting to ensure that we’re able to operate efficiently but have that Texas hospitality that we are known for as well.”
North Texas is hosting nine games over the summer — Houston will host seven.
“We’ve got Argentina who won the 2022 World Cup, so the defending champions. Our first match is Netherlands versus Japan, and Netherlands comes with their fan march and the Orange Army that accompanies them, so excited about that,” Paul said. “Our second match is England and Croatia… That’s going to be a fantastic match as well. So I couldn’t imagine a better draw for Dallas.”
Dallas will also host a number of team base camps, though FIFA hasn’t announced which teams will be housed at these locations.
“FIFA controls the process and the teams have been on site visits,” Paul said. “We’re anticipating getting some additional information on that by the end of January so that we can start planning.”
Paul said that fans who still want tickets can enter the lottery on FIFA’s website.
“I think we’re on the third or fourth phase of that already,” Paul said. “We’re encouraging people to go on and sign up so that they have an opportunity to purchase tickets. There are other hospitality and suite options, both for all matches at AT&T Stadium or even single (match) packages.”
There will also be a number of events as part of an ongoing fan festival at Fair Park where the state fair is located, Paul said.
“It is free and open to the public. There are going to be a lot of commercial activations. There will be a big FIFA store there. There’ll be concerts and other entertainment acts that’ll be taking place,” she said.
“We are anticipating being open every match day, including those days where we’re not hosting a match here. So that’s basically 34 straight days of fan-festival action. Usually the fan festival becomes the heartbeat of the World Cup. So many people attend and travel to go to a World Cup even without a ticket to the match. But this is with a fan gathering spot.
