DALLAS — The city of Dallas is one step closer to becoming the host of the 2026 FIFA World Cup International Broadcast Center.
A council committee received an update on plans from the Dallas Sports Commission on Monday. The city plans to host about 2,000 working journalists for eight months at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center. The IBC is the home for all FIFA-related media operations.
On Monday, the committee approved a motion to forward the decision to host the IBC to council, who is set to vote on a $15 million package next week.
According to the committee, some of the work and cost to prepare the convention center to host the IBC will coincide with building the new convention center. An $8.5 million cost to the city was already anticipated for rebuilding the convention center, and the $15 million expenditure to host the IBC will cover that cost, city leaders said during the meeting.
According to FIFA, events from the world cup (including the IBC and FIFA Fan Festival) are expected to generate $2 billion in economic revenue.
AT&T Stadium is hosting nine World Cup matches, the most of any other site.
“Today's Ad Hoc Committee meeting was the next step for the approval of the International Broadcast Center (IBC) to be located in Dallas for the entirety of the FIFA World Cup 2026," Dallas Sports Commission Executive Director Monica Paul said in a statement to WFAA. "We are confident that we have placed the best bid in front of FIFA and the City of Dallas, and look forward to having a positive outcome during the City Council vote next week."