Where does KC rank for soccer fans, and could that influence FIFA World Cup bid visit?
Kansas City is the nation’s sixth-best city for soccer fans, according to a study conducted by the personal-finance site WalletHub.
And all things considered, that’s not bad.
Kansas City fans can quibble about some of the cities that outranked KC — Los Angeles, Seattle, Salt Lake City, Portland and Orlando were 1-5, in that order — but based on criteria utilized in the study, it’s probably a fair assessment.
The study looked at such factors as number of pro and college teams, ticket prices and fan engagement in each locale.
Any soccer news that casts Kansas City in a good light is especially welcome this week. FIFA officials are touring Kansas City to evaluate its ability to serve as one of 11 U.S. host sites for World Cup games in 2026
The WalletHub ranking could be even better for KC if nearby cities were included. Checking in at No. 19 on the list is Kansas City, Kansas — so two cities from the same metropolitan area rank among the top 20.
The WalletHub study also breaks down cities by size. Kansas City, Missouri ranks fourth among large cities, and Kansas City, Kansas ranks fourth among mid-sized cities.
Contacted about the rankings, a WalletHub official had no comment.
But add it all up and the presence of Sporting Kansas City, KC NWSL, Sporting KC II of the USL, the KC Roos and other area college programs, plus current and planned training facilities in and around Kansas City, could be attractive to the FIFA World Cup site selectors.
This story was originally published October 20, 2021 at 1:13 PM.