KANSAS CITY, Mo. — JT Batson hedged at co-signing the Kansas City soccer scene’s “Soccer Capital of America” claim.
Asked to finish the sentence “[blank] is the Soccer Capital of America,” Batson, the CEO and secretary general for the Chicago-based U.S. Soccer Federation, chuckled: “Fortunately, you’ve got tons of cities all over the country that are great, great, great soccer communities.”
Batson didn’t take the bait Thursday during a visit to Kansas City, but he did come away thoroughly impressed with city’s soccer infrastructure.
“Kansas City has an incredible history with soccer,” Batson said. “The grassroots support of soccer is as strong here as anywhere in the country. The investment in soccer by ownership, by the government's here and in the Kansas City region has been incredible. The players love it, coaches love coaching here, fans love coming here, our national teams love coming here. So, this region's long-standing commitment to soccer is very evident, and it's something that's palpable when you come here.”
That infrastructure includes the Kansas City Current’s newly opened CPKC Stadium and its training facility across the Missouri River, Sporting Kansas City’s Children’s Mercy Park and the Compass Minerals National Performance Center, where Sporting KC trains during the MLS season.
“The growth of soccer in Kansas City is a perfect snapshot of the growth of soccer in this country,” Batson said. “I remember as a kid watching the early KC Wiz then Wizards and Preki scoring those amazing free kicks in Arrowhead Stadium, to a world where you've got packed stadiums, you've got teams winning championships, you've got just unbelievable atmospheres and environments here. The growth of soccer here in Kansas City's just a perfect story of the growth of soccer in this country and it's still only the beginning, which is super exciting for sure.”
Soccer is set to have a moment in the U.S.
Fresh off the 2022 FIFA World Cup title with Argentina, the most iconic player in the game, Lionel Messi, joined Major League Soccer.
This summer, the U.S. also is set to host Copa America 2024 — “the next biggest thing that our men's national team can play in outside of a World Cup,” Batson said — and will host the 2025 Club World Cup a year later before hosting the 2026 World Cup.
Kansas City, of course, will be included.
The U.S. Men’s National team will play a Copa America group-stage game against Uruguay on July 1 at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium, a few days after Canada plays Peru at Children's Mercy Park in another Copa America clash.
U.S. Soccer also entered a joint bid with Mexico for the 2027 Women’s World Cup and will help facilitate soccer during the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
Kansas City — which is set to host six games, including a quarterfinal, in the 2026 Men’s World Cup — also could be part of the 2027 Women’s World Cup, if the U.S./Mexico bid is awarded the tournament May 17 in Bangkok.
“Kansas City has been an early supporter of our bid for the 2027 Women's World Cup,” Batson said. “... We think we have a great bid, put forward one of equal investment in the Women's World Cup — same facilities, same stadiums, same broadcast facilities, same fan experiences — and we believe that by investing in a Women's World Cup on equal terms to a men's World Cup, it'll generate unprecedented returns for FIFA to be able to invest in women's soccer globally.”
Obviously, as one of the cities chosen to host in 2026, that would seem to have Kansas City firmly in the mix for more World Cup games when it’s the women’s turn.
“Certainly, someone who's hosting in ‘26 has a leg up by virtue of the fact that there are going to be six games here, so you're going to learn what's great and you can do more of that,” Batson said. “The work that KC Current has done and the new stadium there — and the broader investment in women's soccer, both on and off the field here in Kansas City — absolutely gives Kansas City a leg up for, not just Women's World Cup, but for all sorts of International Women's Soccer competitions, because people want to be a part of that, people want to support that and people want experience it, which is really cool.”
Batson estimated a Women’s World Cup in the U.S. and Mexico would generate a $2 billion profit that could provide a “transformative” investment boost to the women’s game.
Brazil and a trio of European countries — Belgium, Germany and Netherlands — also submitted bids.
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