FC Dallas President on FIFA World Cup Broadcast Center

Bloomberg

07-03-2025

00:00
Dan Hunt, thanks so much for being with us. We appreciate having you. Great to see you and great to be here. Big news, Dallas gets the International Broadcast Center for Won't World Cup in 2026 and downtown Dallas, Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center. Okay, So what exactly does that mean? Really, it's the storytelling of the entire World Cup. This is the centralized broadcast center in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. There were 187 countries that broadcast live from that studio there in Doha. And so we have what will be the broadcast center for the 2026 World Cup. And I expect it to be more than 187 countries. And they're saying as many as 5000 media people will be working at the center and broadcasting daily. And financially, I mean, that's a boon. I mean, let's talk about that. Yeah, I mean, you have 5000 people saying here. This is truly the kickoff to the World Cup, though. You have so many people that will show up in January or February to start setting up for broadcast, because this is the storytelling that goes back to the countries for each match. And there are 104 matches. The low estimates I've seen are $200 million in economic impact for the Dallas-Fort Worth area. And I've heard as high as 400 million. And you can imagine this is tens of thousands of hotel nights. And again, this is the second time Dallas has hosted this. And it's got some family meaning for the hunts. It's a big win. Back in 1994, we had the International Broadcast Center here in Dallas. It was at Fair Park, and it was something my father, Lamar, was so proud of. He just you know, it was such a win for the community. I didn't really understand it at the time. But as sort of the evolution has gone on and I've gotten to see these broadcast centers and now these latest generations, these are like, you know, pop up cities bringing thousands and thousands of workers. You know, obviously, there was some disappointment when it came to the final. But again, North Texas getting nine games. And, you know, I want to talk about North Texas getting the nine games. It's not just the city of Dallas. I mean, AT & T Stadium is in Arlington. They'll be practices at your facility. Yes. I mean, this whole term, it will be spread out throughout the Metroplex. We got nine games, which is like nine Super Bowls. We have the International Broadcast Center, which is, you know, 5000 media personalities broadcasting globally. And then we have these base camps that are setting up, hopefully in Frisco at Toyota Stadium, wound up with the base camp of visiting national team. There are multiple ones in Dallas, even potentially ones in, you know, Mansfield, maybe Fort Worth. And so it's spread out, but also hotel rooms all across North Texas. We're in a really unique spot in Dallas because Houston has six matches. Dallas has nine. Kansas City has six. So somebody can make a regional play to see a lot of World Cup soccer by staying in north Texas. New York Times reporting today that FIFA is considering expanding the 2030 World Men Cups. World Men Cup to 64 teams now. 2026 is already expanded to 48. What's your thinking on 64? Yeah, look, 48 with 104 matches is unbelievable the drama that exists around that. But that is a really heavy lift. You're talking about 16 venues in North America. You have, you know, Canada, United States, Mexico, 11 of those in the United States. But these are NFL stadiums to go to. 64 teams, I think would be incredibly difficult. I think we need to see how 48 works. First. You'll have first time qualifiers that have never actually qualified for a World Cup. You have teams that may not have been in the tournament for 30 years, and I think this is great for the game. It's growing the game, but 64 is a gigantic leap because you truly will have a disparity between the top teams and the teams that are down near the bottom of that. Got to ask, we haven't seen a since the Super Bowl. Thoughts on next season? Yeah, look, it was difficult. I am so proud of what my brother has achieved and Clarke has done a fantastic job at the Chiefs. This is a truly a dynasty. And Andy Reid, Brett Veach, Mark Donovan. That leadership team is first class. And look, I think with the salary cap going up, you know, 20 plus million dollars, it's allowed a lot of teams to keep their franchises intact. I think the free agent market isn't nearly as big as people expected. So I'm really optimistic the chiefs will be back. So exciting times in Kansas City. And, you know, I'm just thankful I get to be part of it. Dan Harmon, thanks for being with us. Yeah, thank you.