Kansas City, the Smallest World Cup Host, Has the World at Its Feet

The Dutch, donning orange and hopping with happy feet, turned the streets of Kansas City into an undulating conga line. The Argentines like to sing before late-night burgers at Winstead’s, a city landmark. The English? On social media, they name-check cherished taverns — the Peanut and Johnnie’s on Seventh — like natives.

Over the past month, the world’s soccer fans have taken to Kansas City, the smallest American host of these World Cup games, succumbing to the charms of its Midwesterners, its artisan barbecue and its long, but largely overlooked, history with the “beautiful game.”

Not since the 1920s, when Kansas City was the “Paris of the Plains” because it was still a place that served alcohol during Prohibition, has it stood shoulder to shoulder with New York and Los Angeles, local boosters say.

“Kansas City is now in the same conversation as some of these other cities when it comes to tourism and meetings and conventions,” said Kathy Nelson, the chief executive of the Visit KC tourism and convention board and the Greater Kansas City Sports Commission & Foundation. “We may not be in the top 10 population-wise, but we have the right people and the right infrastructure here to make big events happen.”

So far, 344,135 spectators, or an average of nearly 69,000 per match, have filled the stadium here, and Kansas City’s FIFA Fan Festival has welcomed 310,000 people from over 150 countries, led by Ecuador, Mexico, Colombia and Argentina, according to Visit KC. Through the first 92 matches, Kansas City led all U.S. markets in Fox’s World Cup ratings with a 18 share, which means 18 percent of all local televisions turned on at the time of a World Cup game were tuned in to the tournament