Why Arrowhead Stadium won’t be a tailgating destination for next year’s FIFA World Cup
Tailgating will be part of the FIFA World Cup in Kansas City next year, just not in the place where it’s practiced — and locals would say perfected — most often.
It takes vehicles to tailgate, and the parking lot at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium will be filled with several activities for matches in the world’s biggest sporting event that will take place next June and July.
But parking will be limited.
“If there is any (parking), which I think is still to be determined, it will be greatly reduced from what it is today,” said Lindsey Douglas, chief operating officer of KC2026. “Things are going to look and feel different at Arrowhead.”
When the games arrive, the Arrowhead parking lot, with space for some 18,000 cars and 400 buses for Chiefs games, will mostly be occupied by fan entertainment zones, sponsorship hospitality areas and a broadcast center.
This will be nothing like a Chiefs game, with smoke wafting through all corners of the parking lot for hours before a game.
Instead, KC2026 looks to make tailgating a larger part of the fan experience, not just before games but throughout the weeks of events.
“How can we bring the magic of the tailgating experience to fan fest?” Douglas said. “Are there ways to think about giving everyone that experience while they’re here?”
Kansas City also is thinking about how to get fans around town. Some 650,000 visitors are expected to spend some time in the area over a month-long period. Moving them to the stadium, hotel clusters, fan fest and other destinations will be a new experience for the city, which has leased 200 buses.
Park and ride locations will be established in the area.
“We’re working to review options for the park and ride locations,” Douglas said. “We know those are going to be critical and we’re using a number of data sources to hone in on where it makes the most sense to put those locations.
“We definitely want to serve (area) residents with this as well as visitors.”
Fans will come to Kansas City for the matches — six in a 25-day period — the fan fest at the National World War I Museum and Memorial, and to follow teams that are expected to select this area as a base camp.
Up to three nations are expected to use the soccer training facilities of Sporting KC, the Kansas City Current, and the University of Kansas at Rock Chalk Park. Fans of the teams stationed here will use Kansas City as their base.
Matches that will be played at Arrowhead won’t be known until December, and the teams that will use this area for their base camps a few weeks later.
But a few things are known: Qualifying for the 48-team event will be happening throughout the year, but six teams are already in. The U.S., Mexico and Canada qualify automatically as host nations. Japan, New Zealand and Iran have qualified through competition.
The U.S. will play its group stage games in Los Angeles and Seattle.
This story was originally published March 26, 2025 at 6:00 AM.