Royals, Chiefs and Sporting get special designation from KC World Cup organizers
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- KC2026 announced the Chiefs, Royals and Sporting KC as financial supporters.
- Sporting KC will host Argentina at its training facility.
- Six World Cup matches will be played at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium, the Chiefs' home.
To help with financial aspects of organizing the 2026 World Cup in each town, FIFA started a Host City Supporters program.
The Sports Business Journal said this allows organizing groups to “cover the costs of hosting the event through the sale of local sponsorships. Each city can designate up to 10 companies who don’t compete with any of FIFA’s official partners as supporters. These brands are able to use city-specific marks to promote their support for the event and are expected to have a presence at fan festivals within the local market.”
For the KC2026 organizers, those companies are Black & Veatch, Hallmark, JE Dunn Construction, Populous, Purina PetCare and the University of Kansas Health System.
KC2026 on Friday announced three more Host City Supporters that have or will provide financial support: the Chiefs, Royals and Sporting Kansas City.
Those three sports franchises already were playing a role in the World Cup before getting the special designation. Sporting KC is opening its training facilities to Argentina and England, while six matches will be played at the Chiefs’ home, GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium.
And the Royals are welcoming fans to use the World Cup bus system to attend games.
KC2026 president Pam Kramer spoke earlier this year about the Royals’ support.
“The Royals are a great partner of ours, not only from a planning standpoint, but from a financial standpoint,” Kramer said. “They’re a supporter of ours. We really appreciate their support and partnership. ... I think they will have an opportunity to show lots of new fans what an experience is like, particularly with rivals like the Cardinals playing (in KC). What better experience for people who may not understand baseball to have that to be at the K for those games. So working very closely with them.”
Sporting Kansas City played host to a number of visiting soccer delegations that were trying to determine where to have their base camp.
Four chose the Kansas City area: Argentina (Sporting KC’s training facility), the Netherlands (KC Current facilities), England (Swope Soccer Village) and Algeria (Rock Chalk Park in Lawrence).
“We have been a driving force in the planning for FIFA World Cup 2026 since 2017 when Kansas City was first preparing the bid,” Jake Reid, President and CEO of Sporting Kansas City, said in a news release. “Now that the moment is here, we are thrilled to continue our partnership with KC2026 to show the world why we are the Soccer Capital of America.”
Reid is also the Vice President of the KC2026 Board of Directors.
Kramer said the partnership with the Royals, Sporting KC and the Chiefs will help make the World Cup a success in Kansas City.
“An important reason Kansas City was selected as a host city is our deeply rooted sports culture and the passion of our fans,” Kramer said in a news release. “The Chiefs, Royals and Sporting KC are globally recognized organizations that represent the pride, energy and community spirit of our region.
“We are especially grateful to Clark Hunt, John Sherman and Cliff Illig for their longstanding support of Kansas City’s FIFA World Cup 2026 efforts and for the leadership they continue to provide through their organizations.”
This story was originally published May 22, 2026 at 10:03 AM.
