Dallas approves $15 million in convention center upgrades so city can host World Cup broadcasting center – if awarded
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DALLAS — Dallas City Council approved on Wednesday a $15 million package intended to fund necessary upgrades to the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center so Dallas could host the 2026 FIFA World Cup International Broadcast Center (IBC).
City officials had planned on holding a news conference about the vote, but it was postponed to next year "to explore additional potential opportunities tied to FIFA's World Cup initiatives for 2026."
Dallas City Council unanimously approved item 66 on the agenda:
Final terms of the City's joinder to the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center Dallas (KBHCCD) use contract between Global Spectrum LP (dba OVG360), the City's operator of the KBHCCD, and FWC2026 US, INC (FIFA) to facilitate an eight-month user agreement for use of the KBHCCD and other City spaces in 2026.
The approval for the City Manager to join in the KBHCCD use contract, approved as to form by the City Attorney, and to provide for capital improvements - Not to exceed $15,000,000.00 - Financing: Convention Center Construction Fund.
The IBC serves as the temporary home for television and radio reporters during the World Cup and could bring between 2,500 and 5,000 broadcasters to Downtown Dallas from May to the end of July, the Dallas Sports Commission has told previously told city council.
According a council committee, some of the work and cost to prepare the convention center to host the IBC will coincide with building the new convention center. An $8.5 million cost to the city was already anticipated for rebuilding the convention center, and the $15 million expenditure to host the IBC will cover that cost, city leaders said during their meeting last week.
According to FIFA, events from the World Cup (including the IBC and FIFA Fan Festival) are expected to generate $2 billion in economic revenue.
AT&T Stadium is hosting nine World Cup matches, the most of any other site.
“[The Dec. 2] Ad Hoc Committee meeting was the next step for the approval of the International Broadcast Center (IBC) to be located in Dallas for the entirety of the FIFA World Cup 2026," Dallas Sports Commission Executive Director Monica Paul said in a statement to WFAA last week. "We are confident that we have placed the best bid in front of FIFA and the City of Dallas, and look forward to having a positive outcome during the City Council vote next week."
FIFA has yet to make its own official announcement for the IBC. The postponement of the news conference doesn't necessarily mean that the city has lost the bid for the IBC. Dallas' market is geographically desirable among the 16 host cities due its centralized location. Dallas was also named the top market for sports business by the Sports Business Journal earlier this year.
In the Dec. 11 city council meeting, District 6 councilman Omar Narvaez asked Dallas Sports Commission officials about the postponement. They said they held a call with FIFA on Tuesday, where the soccer governing body told them there was "a lot of other great things coming to Dallas," according to Rosa Fleming, Director of Convention and Event Services.
"There is a lot of great news that [FIFA] wanted to share, but they really thought it was best to share all at once," Fleming told city council.
So, FIFA suggested holding off and "doing a bigger press conference later" in late January-early February, Fleming said.
Dallas previously hosted the IBC when the 1994 World Cup was in the U.S. and was held in Fair Park.