NFL stadiums across the U.S. underwent significant modifications in order to host FIFA World Cup matches, including removing signs and sponsored decor in line with FIFA’s “clean site” policy. For most teams, these changes came with high price tags, and the story is no different in Kansas City. But, it is the taxpayers in Kansas City who have been stuck with the $42.5 million bill for a stadium that will no longer host NFL games after 2030.
According to Sportico, crews at Arrowhead Stadium removed 3,500 seats to accommodate a full-sized soccer pitch, re-sodded the playing surface and installed a new air system. Like all other host sites, all signage was also removed. Neither the Chiefs nor FIFA picked up the tab for those renovations; instead, the Jackson County Sports Complex Authority allocated nearly $50 million from the state’s general revenue fund for the work.
Related: Missouri Faces $150M Bill to Demolish Arrowhead Stadium in 2031
Beginning in 2030, the Kansas City Chiefs will have a new $3 billion stadium to call home —in Kansas, not Missouri. Budgeting for that facility includes $1.8 billion in public funding, the largest ever for a U.S. sports venue. Of course, when Kansas City pledged to host World Cup matches three years ago, the city could not have known what was ahead for Arrowhead.
Kansas City is hosting six matches for the FIFA World Cup, at a total estimated cost of $200 million, from organizing committees to other events, short-term rentals and various other costs.
“You cannot pay your bills with economic impact,” said public policy professor Geoffrey Propheter, noting that the purpose of Kansas City’s World Cup efforts shouldn’t be conflated with generating revenue, which is mostly kept by FIFA. “You’re not throwing a party to make money, you’re throwing a party to lose money, but to socialize and to have that community joviality, that fun, that socialization component.”
