Lasting Legacy: Texan Golden Boot and the George Stevens Park Mini-Pitch

After hosting nine matches and welcoming visitors from around the world, Arlington emerged from one of the largest sporting events in its history with more than memories. From new community spaces and infrastructure improvements to record-breaking hotel revenue and new economic opportunities, the World Cup helped create a lasting legacy for residents.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

The final whistle may have blown, but the impact of the FIFA World Cup 2026 is just beginning. Over the course of nine unforgettable matches, Arlington welcomed some of the best teams in the world, including the World Cup champion, and witnessed the final World Cup appearances of some of soccer's greatest legends. I'm Jay Warren, and in this final episode of Arlington Welcomes the World, we're discussing everything from new community spaces and infrastructure improvements to opportunities for local businesses and global recognition. The tournament has certainly left a legacy that will shape the American Dream City. Mayor, thanks so much for being here.

SPEAKER_00 0:57

Thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_01 0:58

And congratulations. Thanks. You've got to be pretty proud about this. Nine matches, and every one of them a great success.

SPEAKER_00 1:03

I think pride is the best way to describe the overall feeling of this.

SPEAKER_01 1:08

As you look back at nine historic matches, and really, truly, they were in many respects some just iconic games that were played here. What do you remember most? What do you think you'll you'll be most proud of?

SPEAKER_00 1:22

Wow. You know, I was you start off worried about is everybody going to be safe? Is everybody gonna be and everybody was, but m I think what I left with was the sense of what others took away from here about Arlington and about the people here in Arlington and the people in North Texas. Um I heard it time and time again from the dignitaries down to the guys drinking beer with that they wish all games could be played here. And that shows the true spirit of our city and the true spirit of North Texas.

SPEAKER_01 2:01

We we unveiled some big projects too: the Golden Boot. There were a lot of tree plantings, environmental initiatives. Uh, what's the impact of that to our city?

SPEAKER_00 2:10

Well, uh it it's a lasting legacy to remind everybody about what we went through, what we accomplished, and where we're going in the future. Um this is about momentum for me. It's it's about creating that that constant drive to do better, to reach further. And uh you can't reach much further than nine games of the World Cup.

SPEAKER_01 2:36

And I know you're a competitive guy. Yeah. Uh and you've talked to the FIFA executives all. I don't know if you can reveal today or not, but what what is their take of Arlington compared to the other 16 host cities?

SPEAKER_00 2:47

Well, I I'll be honest with you. I I've spoken to everybody from the president of FIFA on down, and everybody is saying we killed it. We were the best. And um uh I had ambassadors saying they've traveled around the country going to other cities, and by far we were the most hospitable, the most welcoming, the smoothest run operation, the best transportation, the best, the best, the best.

SPEAKER_01 3:15

Yeah, world-class operation.

SPEAKER_00 3:17

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 3:18

Uh we made some infrastructure improvements out in the in the entertainment district for this, uh, and around the city as well. What's the impact of that long-term for our residents?

SPEAKER_00 3:28

Well, I think we build off of stuff like this. Every time we do these type of events, it's another notch in our belt about how we move forward in Arlington, what we've learned from it, and what we're able to provide to people. And I think this is helping to continuously lay the foundation of building a bitter, better and bigger Arlington.

SPEAKER_01 3:52

I know you talk a lot about community pride and community spirit and the the welcoming nature of Arlington. Um, we saw a lot of fan spirit here, and it involved Arlington residents too. Do you think that starts to carry forward in any way?

SPEAKER_00 4:06

Yeah, you know, it started in the very first match with the Netherlands in Japan and the giant orange fan march they had, and I had the opportunity to ride in the double decker bus and witness this thing from a bird's eye perspective. I've never seen anything like it. But what was special about it was not just the Netherland fans, but the Arlingtonians that came out and they donned their UT orange shirts because that's the only orange they had. The Japanese fans that came out and joined them, and they're all arm in arm singing and dancing together. That was really something special.

SPEAKER_01 4:45

Yeah, that's it. Um, you know, you mentioned they're saying we're the best of the best, and I've I think I've heard you say we're going after another tournament that's coming up in maybe 2031. But but what is the impact of being able to pull off more matches than any city in the entire tournament and do it so successfully? Does that help us attract more major events like this?

SPEAKER_00 5:10

I think it tells every promoter out there, whether it's in sports entertainment, whether it's in uh concert venues, whether it would no matter what type of gig it is, it tells everybody that Arlington can do it. If you have a big event, if you have a festival, a concert, or a wrestling event, or whatever it is, we're your place to do it.

SPEAKER_01 5:34

And what match do you think we're gonna be going after?

SPEAKER_00 5:37

Oh, we're gonna by far end up doing everything we can to get the final of the Women's World Cup in 2031. Uh, I I think we have a better than even chance. Even the FIFA president was bragging about how phenomenal we were here.

SPEAKER_01 5:54

Any lessons that you picked up on that could help us be even more successful at that? Lessons learned kind of message.

SPEAKER_00 6:02

Yeah, I mean, we're still um debriefing on everything from our our first responders to our hospitality crews to everything from Ambassador Roe and all that. But um, you know, the the biggest lessons is we do stuff better when we do it together. And uh collaboration, I think, is the key to tremendous success in these type of endeavors.

SPEAKER_01 6:27

Speaking of doing it better together, businesses were a part of that. And and it was a big part of the lasting, I think, impact of of the World Cup. Talk to us a little bit about how the what you saw from a business perspective here in Arlington.

SPEAKER_00 6:39

Yeah, you know, overall I think the the financial impact for the businesses is tremendous. Um not every business is going to be a business that attracts visitors from around the world. And I think there's some small businesses that would say, Oh, I was waiting for the big push and I never got the big push. But ultimately, collaterally, we all get the push from it because you know the rising tide lifts all ships type of scenario. And that's really what's going on here. When you're bringing that many people in there, when you're elevating all that traffic, even if the business doesn't see a specific direct impact on things immediately, I think ultimately it helps everybody.

SPEAKER_01 7:26

And as you're talking about, that's kind of long-term thinking as well. What from an economic development impact do you think the World Cup is going to have? And that's really kind of out into the future, right? But is there an impact there?

SPEAKER_00 7:37

Yeah, you know, there's a couple of things. Uh I talked to our CVB. Uh, we set last month a new hotel revenue record for the month. November of 2024 was our previous record. We had three home games of the Cowboys. We had a Mike Tyson fight. Uh, we had about $23.5 million of hotel revenue in that month. Uh, June of this year during the World Cup, we exceeded $31 million. So you're talking over a 30% increase from our previous record set in hotel revenue. Rough estimate so far is putting our economic impact in Arlington around $160 million during the World Cup. And why is that significant? If you look at the Cowboys Stadium there, the ATT stadium, annually we get an average of about $324 million economic impact a year. That's everybody's cash registers ringing. But if we got a hundred and sixty million impact in this 30-day period, that's about 50% of our annual economic impact in a 30-day period. That's significant.

SPEAKER_01 8:49

And do you think this will help you attract other businesses or even maybe industries or types of industries to Arlington?

SPEAKER_00 8:56

I think it puts us on the map, not just in Texas, not just in the United States, but in the world. People came in here not really sure who Arlington was, what they know who we are now. Uh they know that we're the American dream city. So absolutely it's gonna attract other business here.

SPEAKER_01 9:16

And what about future events? Not thinking just like the Women's World Cup, but obviously we'd love to have that. But the Jordanian experience that happened over at the Levitt is a prime example of this festival that came into town, showcase what Jordan was all about for Arlington residents to travel there. They got to experience Arlington's hospitality as well. Do you think we'll see growth from events like that here in Arlington too?

SPEAKER_00 9:38

We're gonna absolutely see growth like that. You know, um the Jordanian festival that they did over there um went viral in Jordan, where they had uh social media influences here. Um I got invited to go meet the king of Jordan, which was just cool beyond belief. Uh and I sit down with the king and we're talking about business and stuff. What's going on in Arlington? What's going on in Jordan? And we learn that both Jordan and Arlington have a significant aerospace technology industry here. Um I leave the meeting with the Jordan and uh the King of Jordan, and about an hour later I get a phone call from the ambassador of Jordan says, hey, the king reached out to the CEO of the business he was telling you about. He happens to be in North Texas. Do you think you can come back and meet with the CEO? I came back, met with him. At that meeting, I put him directly in touch with some of our aerospace technology companies here, and they automatically hooked up, and now they're talking about how they can collaborate and do some stuff together. It took and just a quick little phone call, and we're working on that stuff. So we're gonna see long-lasting impacts on those relationships that were created here.

SPEAKER_01 11:01

You've been around Arlington for a long time. You've been an employee of Arlington, obviously our mayor. Uh, but I'm curious throughout these nine matches, this was a heavy lift for the organization, for the city. What did you learn about Arlington?

SPEAKER_00 11:16

Yeah, we live up to our can do city spirit. Um, you know, no matter how big the event, no matter how tough the task, no matter how steep the hill is, we can climb it. And uh we will find a way to make the things happen. And we do it better than anybody. Um we don't have just the best stadiums in the world. Uh, we have the best know-how in the world, and we do one thing better than anybody else worldwide, and that's relationships.

SPEAKER_01 11:49

And it does take a village, as they say. It's volunteers, it's city staff, it's residents, it's it's a community-wide effort, and it is regional as well. Um, I'm curious, kind of as a last question here, uh, what message you might have to all those people that made this happen.

SPEAKER_00 12:06

Wow, thanks. Uh thank you, thank you, thank you. You know, I went to uh say thank you to all the volunteers and the celebration of the volunteers who are there. We had over 5,000 volunteers here uh in North Texas. I didn't realize that volunteers came to Arlington from all over the world, and they would stay here for four or five weeks to volunteer at the World Cup in Arlington. And um I was there talking to these volunteers, thousands of them showed up. There's probably 4,000 people there, and um it was phenomenal. So a big thank you to everybody, from the organizing committee to North Texas FIFA to the volunteers to all of our our uh government partners, state, federal, local, everybody. Um we know how to get it done here, and uh I can't say thank you enough.

SPEAKER_01 13:08

Well, Mayor, we appreciate you being here with us today, spending some time, and also thank you for your leadership to help us do all this and and maybe pull off nine incredible.

SPEAKER_00 13:17

Incredible. I mean, who'd have thought Ronaldo, I know, Messi, Holland, some of the best players in the world were right here in Arlington.

SPEAKER_01 13:28

And best teams. I mean, our semifinal between France and Spain, you couldn't ask for a better, better. That's gonna be cool. Yeah, yeah. Well, thank you, Mayor Ross. We appreciate that. And one thing is certain the FIFA World Cup 2026 will forever be part of Arlington's story. As we celebrate our 150th anniversary, we also celebrate a legacy built on community, opportunity, and a city that proudly welcomed the world. Thanks for joining us.