Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, Radio News. Dan Hunt, thanks so much for being with us. We appreciate having you.
Great to see you and great to be here.
Big News Dallas gets the international broadcast Center for World Cup in twenty twenty six in downtown Dallas. Okay, Bailey Hutchinson Convention Center. Okay, So what exactly does that mean?
Really, it's the storytelling of the entire World Cup. This is the centralized broadcast center. In the twenty twenty two World Cup and guitar there were one hundred and eighty seven countries that broadcast live from that studio there in Doha, and so we have what will be the broadcast center for the twenty twenty six World Cup, and I expect it to be more than one hundred and eighty seven countries.
And they're saying as many as five thousand media people will be working at the center and broadcasting daily and.
So financially, I mean it's a boom. I mean, let's talk about that.
Yeah, I mean, you have five thousand people saying here, this is truly the kickoff to the World Cup. Though you have so many people that will show up in January or February to start setting up for broadcasts, because this is the storytelling that that goes back to the countries for each match, and there are one hundred and
four matches. They the low estimates I've seen are two hundred million dollars of economic impact for the Dallas for Worth area, and I've heard his high as four hundred million.
But you can.
Imagine this is tens of thousands of hotel nights.
And again, this is the second time Dallas has hosted this. That's got some family meaning for the Hunts.
It's a big win. Back in nineteen ninety four, we had the International Broadcast Center here in Dallas. It was at Fair Park and it was something my father Lamar was so proud of. He just you know, it was such a win for the community. I didn't really understand it at the time, but as sort of the evolution has gone on and I've gotten to see these broadcast centers and now these latest generations, these are like you know, pop up cities, bringing thousands and thousands of workers.
You know, obviously there was some disappointment when it came to the final, but again North Texas getting nine games, and you know, I want to talk about North Texas it's getting the nine games. It's not just the city of Dallas. I mean at and T Stadium is in Arlington. They'll be practices at your facility.
Yes, I mean this whole tournament will be spread out throughout the metroplex. We've got nine games, which is like nine Super Bowls. We have the International Broadcast Center, which is you know, five thousand media personalities broadcasting globally. And then we have these base camps that are setting up hopefully in Frisco at Toyota Stadium will wind up with
the base camp of a visiting national team. That are multiple ones in Dallas, even potentially ones in you know, Mansfield, maybe of Fort Worth, and so it's spread out, but also hotel rooms all across North Texas. We're in a really unique spot in Dallas because Houston has six matches, Dallas has nine, Kansas City has six. So somebody can make a regional play to see a lot of World Cup soccer by staying in North Texas.
New York Times reporting today that FIFA is considering expanding the twenty thirty World Men Cups World's Men Cup to sixty four teams. Now twenty twenty six has already expanded to forty eight. What's your thinking on sixty.
Yeah, look, forty eight with one hundred and four matches is unbelievable. The drama that exists around that, But that is a really heavy lift. You're talking about sixteen venues in North America. You have you know, Canada, United States, Mexico, eleven of those in the United States. But these are NFL stadiums. To go to sixty four teams, I think would be incredibly difficult. I think we need to see
how forty eight works. First. You'll have first time qualifiers that have never actually qualified for a World Cup, and you'll have teams that may not have been in the tournament for thirty years. And I think this is great for the game. It's growing the game. But sixty four is a gigantic league because you truly will have a disparity between the top teams and the teams that are down near to the bottom of that.
Got to ask, we haven't seen it since the Super Bowl. Thoughts on next season?
Yeah, look, it was difficult. I am so proud of what my brother has achieved. The Clark has done a fantastic job with the Chiefs. This is truly a dynasty and Andy Reid Brett Vich Mark Donod and that leadership team is first class. And look, I think with the salary cap gowing up, you know, twenty plus million dollars, it's allowed a lot of teams to keep their franchises intact. I think the free agent market isn't nearly as big as people expected, So I'm really optimistic the Chiefs will
be back. So exciting times in Kansas City, and you know, I'm just thankful I get to be part.
Of it, Dan Hutt, and thanks for being with us.
Yeah, thank you.