KSHB 41 reporter Charlie Keegan covers politics in Kansas, Missouri and at the local level. Share your story idea with Charlie.
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The 2026 FIFA World Cup begins in one week, and leaders in Kansas City are busy with last-minute tasks before events get started.
Kansas City opens its FIFA Fan Festival on June 11. Its ConnectKC26 bus shuttles also begin that day, offering transportation to and from the airport, and connecting several cities with Fan Festival on the grounds of the National WWI Museum and Memorial.
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A spokesperson for KC2026, the group organizing activities in Kansas City, said construction on the stage and other Fan Festival infrastructure is on schedule for completion June 9.
The spokesperson added bus drivers will spend most of next week training on their routes. Buses for the ConnectKC26 service have not yet arrived in the city.
“It is a new gear and (we're) excited that it’s finally coming to life, finally here. The years and years of planning are starting to take shape,” KC2026 CEO Pam Kramer said at a press event on May 26.
A national report in early May said Kansas City’s hotels were the weakest among host cities when it came to bookings during the tournament.
Hotel and Lodging Association of Greater Kansas City President Walker Swan said hotels have received an influx of bookings since that report.
He said the bookings are generally for about two nights, not weeks at a time like the hotel industry once expected.
Swan expects the hotel he manages, the Crowne Plaza in downtown Kansas City, to sellout on game days.
“People are starting to see an influx of bookings, and a lot of it was some last-minute pickup,” Swan explained. “We’re ok with it, we’ll take it.”
Short-term rental owners report mixed success. Some are having a record number of bookings, while others, like Jeffery Adams in Raymore, haven’t landed a single World Cup-related booking, despite Adams lowering his rate since our interview in April.
The police department made a series of moves Thursday to help its officers prepare. It formally accepted a $17 million federal grant. Deputy Chief Derek McCollum said that money will pay for safety gear for the officers and overtime.
On Thursday, the police board also approved using a different grant to buy a mobile command van and software to detect drones and other unmanned aircraft.
McCollum said the smaller van allows officers to use the drone detection software in a more effective way than installing it in a typical command post the size of an RV.
“There’s always a threat with anything that’s unknown that’s being operated in the air, so we’re always mindful of that,” McCollum explained. “That’s why getting this software and this technology is super important, so we can identify a potential threat and mitigate it.”
McCollum insisted vendors have guaranteed items purchased Thursday will arrive before the events begin next week.
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