Planning and preparations are underway for FIFA World Cup

From June 14-July 14, AT&T Stadium in Arlington (renamed Dallas Stadium for World Cup) will host nine FIFA World Cup matches, the most of any venue worldwide. Fort Worth is gearing up to create a welcoming, safe, clean, well‑informed and easy‑to‑navigate environment for residents and visitors throughout the World Cup period.

The World Cup will bring unparalleled visibility to the region, with Dallas-Fort Worth expecting over 740,000 ticketed attendees, 1.5 million Fan Festival visitors and thousands of journalists at the International Broadcast Center, generating an estimated $1.5-$2.1 billion in economic impact.

It is estimated that Fort Worth will see increased tourism, watch parties and heavy fan travel through the city on match days. Fort Worth’s unified, cross‑departmental approach, supported by community partners, ensures the organization cannot only rise to the occasion but also proudly showcase the very best of Fort Worth during the tournament.

Planning efforts began with regional partners after AT&T Stadium in Arlington was named a host location in 2022. Last year, the City organized its planning efforts into five work groups, each comprised of cross-departmental teams working collaboratively to organize City resources to enhance a well-coordinated response to this massive event. This effort is powered by numerous City departments — Code, Communications & Public Engagement, Development Services, Emergency Management & Communications, Environmental Services, Finance, Fire, Law, Police, Public Events, Transportation & Public Works and others — demonstrating what is possible when staff works together as One City, One Team.

Beautification: Maintaining a clean, safe, welcoming visual environment for residents and visitors across priority travel corridors. Identified over 50 priority destinations and the corridors used to travel between locations to emphasize pre-event beautification and daily inspections during the event.

Communication and engagement: Leading a coordinated, citywide strategy to prepare Fort Worth for the World Cup by centralizing messaging, aligning with Visit Fort Worth and ensuring residents, businesses and visitors are well-informed and supported.

Hospitality: Coordinating with Visit Fort Worth and partners to prepare for World Cup-related visitors and ensure event readiness. This group is also monitoring hotel bookings for indications of tourism impact; however, forecasting exact numbers remains difficult as it is still outside the booking window for this time period.

Infrastructure: Ensuring transportation, mobility and critical infrastructure can meet tournament demands while maintaining citywide service continuity by coordinating with regional partners on the transportation plan for attendees and developing gameday protocols, including traffic signal operations and incident management, to manage potential points of congestion.

Safety and security: Advancing coordinated safety and security preparations with Emergency Management & Communications, Police, Fire and supporting departments. Staff will be engaged across key local coordination hubs to support continuous monitoring and response. In addition, City personnel will be embedded with regional partners to strengthen interagency coordination and will also participate in national-level collaboration efforts to maintain situational awareness and unified planning.

Review and update of existing ordinances and rules

On March 31, the City Council approved an ordinance to create four temporary World Cup Districts (Stockyards National Historic District, Sundance Square/Downtown District, West 7th Cultural District and Near Southside District) and provide narrowly tailored, time-limited regulatory relief in those areas, primarily for various types of temporary signage that promote, celebrate or relate to the World Cup. This measure supports economic development, tourism and a celebratory atmosphere in anticipation of increased visitor traffic to Fort Worth resulting from World Cup matches, while protecting public health, safety, welfare and community aesthetics.

Cost estimates

City staff have compiled estimates of the costs the City will incur in responding to the event, with departments tracking all World Cup-related personnel and operational expenses with the Financial Management Services Grants Team. A large portion of the estimated costs are expected to be eligible for FEMA or UASI reimbursements. Departments are structuring plans to be able to execute efforts related to the event with minimal impact on normal operations, both in terms of service and costs.