A version of the following commentary appeared in the Missouri Independent on January 27, 2026.
But if history is any guide, hosting mega-events brings real challenges alongside the spectacle — not all of them welcome.
One of the more immediate concerns is how cities like ours handle public presentation. In many places, that’s meant aggressive crackdowns on visible homelessness in advance of big events. New Orleans did so for the 2025 Super Bowland a 2024 Taylor Swift concert. Chicago moved homeless encampments for the 2024 Democratic National Conventionand San Francisco did so for a state visit. Internationally, Paris and New Delhi relocated homeless camps for the Olympics and G20, respectively.
Kansas City officials insist the World Cup has not required them to change their approach. Josh Henges, who leads homelessness prevention efforts in the city Housing Department, points to past events like the NFL Draft and Chiefs parades as proof that the city has stuck with their, “strong balanced process that prioritizes public safety while connecting people to services.”
He may be right, but that would make Kansas City an outlier.
What makes this different is scale. The NFL Draft drew large crowds—but not 650,000 people that World Cup promoters claim will descend on the region (There is reason to be skeptical of that number and the supposed economic impact). Public safety preparation is not just about crowd size. It’s also about unpredictability, especially when alcohol is involved.
Earlier this year, Missouri lawmakers approved 23-hour liquor sales statewide for the duration of the tournament. That decision may boost business, but it also raises risk — particularly in the communities that will absorb the largest crowds.
Hooliganism may feel like a foreign problem, but don’t be so sure. The Times of London reported in June that fan violence still plagues international matches. This risk was brought to my attention by an English friend living in Kansas City who will steer clear of wherever English visitors are whooping it up.
Some cities are working to prepare. Dimitrios Mastoras of the Connecticut-based Safe Night LLC told me his firm is helping World Cup hosts like Dallas and New York train bar staff and coordinate safety plans. The idea is to prevent problems before they start. But in Kansas City, officials have often seemed quicker to blame bar owners or liquor stores (and parking lot operators!) for crime than to work with them.
This reactive posture shows up elsewhere, including housing. According to the Kansas City Business Journal, the metro area has just 65,000 hotel rooms. That’s not nearly enough for the expected influx. Short-term rentals will need to fill the gap, but the region’s policies are inconsistent and in some cases contradictory.
In Parkville, city leaders wisely suspended their limits on rentals during the tournament window. But other jurisdictions around Kansas City — Prairie Village, Leawood, Gladstone — still ban short-term rentals altogether. Some require registration. Others have caps. Homeowner associations in many areas prohibit them regardless of city policy.
This patchwork approach — common across Missouri, where housing and tax policy are largely left to local governments — makes planning difficult. The local short-term rental alliance is trying to educate residents, but confusion remains. Jackson County’s recent decision to treat some rentals as commercial property nearly tripled tax bills for hosts. That policy was paused until after the tournament, but the uncertainty hasn’t gone away.
Meanwhile, Kansas City continues to lag on infrastructure and public coordination. Construction delays on temporary jail facilities suggest city and county leaders are racing the clock. And the city’s push to subsidize empty storefronts, rather than addressing longer-term development hurdles, suggests short-term optics still matter more than long-term solutions.
This is a familiar pattern. Local leaders defer key decisions — on safety, housing, infrastructure — until a deadline looms. Then they scramble, spending heavily and blaming others when problems emerge.
The World Cup could still be a moment of civic pride for Missouri. But that will depend less on the crowds we host than on the choices made beforehand. Coordination, clarity, and consistency — not just marketing — will determine whether the state’s largest city, and the state itself, are ready.