KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Some people believe heaven moved for Kansas City to land its World Cup-hosting gig.
Next, earth had to be moved to make hosting the games possible, but that’s how late Chiefs founder Lamar Hunt would have wanted it.
“I would be foolish to not mention the fact that Lamar Hunt always dreamed of this day for Arrowhead and Kansas City,” Chiefs Executive Vice President of Operations and Events Matt Kenny said. “The fact that we get to do this within a year is truly, truly something to be proud of. The impact it's going to have on the city, the game of soccer, and, frankly, North America is really tremendous.”
To accommodate the wider field needed for FIFA World Cup 26, changes were required to the seating bowl at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium.
They were necessary, but also subtle to the casual glance.
“It doesn't look any different than what Arrowhead may have looked like last year for the AFC Championship or a regular-season game, because we replaced every seat one to one,” Kenny said. “... When fans are here for the game this Friday, they won't really notice a difference, but that doesn't mean that there wasn't a significant amount of work done.”
As the Chiefs prepared to face the Philadelphia Eagles in the Super Bowl LIX last February, around 3,000 seats on the north(east) sideline were already being removed as part of a $45-million renovation.
“That was an area that had to be excavated, reinforced, shorn up, and then put back in,” Kenny said.
The seating bowl needed surgery to be ready to host six World Cup games, including a Round of 32 fixture and a quarterfinal next summer.
“We're well under 365 days away,” Kenny said. “The team has been working really hard since 2024 frankly on the modifications necessary to host an event of this scale.”
The World Cup, which is expanding from 32 to 48 teams and from 64 to 104 games, is the largest and most-watched sporting event in the world. The project is required by FIFA as part of the host agreement.
“In order to have the width of a FIFA pitch, Arrowhead, as it was previously, wasn't wide enough,” Kenny said.
That meant multiple rows of seats — roughly 10 on average, Kenny said — and the supporting concrete were removed along the visiting sideline.
It was replaced with removable aluminum stands with each seat reinstalled in the same place as before.
The Chiefs also upgraded the new ventilation system below the playing surface.
“We started that project back in 2024, which was the room that houses the sort of main blower there,” Kenny said. “Then, all the connections and all the piping was done this year underground.
“We'll have the ability to use that during the football season and learn a little bit. But there'll be an extension early next year as we prepare for the World Cup that connects the area that's under the seating bowl today.”
The final piece of the puzzle will be to level the expanded playing field, a stark departure from the crowned field used for NFL games.
After the football season, the seating along the visiting sideline will be removed and the entire playing surface will be raised to the level of the crown.
“It will just be to the size of the crown,” Kenny said. “I would be misquoting if I told you the number of inches and how many cubic feet of material that is, but it's not significant from the vantage point — and it will go back to the crown system for football.”
Arrowhead seats 76,416 for an NFL game, but the capacity will be fluid for World Cup games, which will bring dramatically different needs for global media, international broadcasting and other logistics specific to a worldwide event.
“But in order to be eligible for a quarterfinal match, it had to be upwards of 60,000 (capacity) and we're well above that,” Kenny said.
Perhaps the tricker part will be converting Arrowhead back to its football configuration after the World Cup but in time for the Chiefs to host two preseason games in 2026.
“That's a tight window for all the activity because, not only do you have to prepare the pitch, you have to sort of unravel all of the FIFA elements that come through,” Kenny said.
He noted that FIFA and the Chiefs — as well as the other NFL teams whose venues are serving as World Cup hosts — are well aware of and preparing for that post-tourney turnaround.
“We'll hit the mark,” Kenny said before singling Chiefs Vice President of Stadium Operations and Facilities Brandon Hamilton for leading the project from design to bid to fruition.
“Obviously, lots of support from architects, engineers and construction experts to get it done, but here we are (three) days away from a game and it looks almost ready other than some field paint,” Kenny said.
The Chiefs host the Chicago Bears in the preseason finale at 7:20 p.m. on Friday at Arrowhead. Pregame coverage on KSHB 41 starts at 6 p.m. with a postgame show to follow.
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