Dallas to Host World Cup International Broadcast Center, but We Knew That Already

More than 2,000 broadcast journalists from around the world will descend upon Dallas at the start of next year to join the FIFA World Cup’s International Broadcast Center, which is set to be held at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center.

Dallas will serve as the “nerve center” for World Cup-related broadcasting from January 2026 through July 2026, FIFA Chief Business and Strategy Officer Amy Hopfinger announced Wednesday in the City Hall flag room. FIFA’s host broadcaster, media partners as well as the FIFA Content Production Department and Football Technology and Innovation Department will also headquarter out of the downtown convention center.

Dallas Mayor Eric “Sports City” Johnson said the deal has been “over a year in the making.” The Dallas City Council approved a $15 million contract for the IBC last December, when a press conference to announce the “milestone” was originally scheduled. The official announcement was later delayed so the city could “explore additional potential opportunities tied to FIFA's World Cup initiatives for 2026.”

What those additional potential opportunities were or are isn’t clear.

“The Kay Bailey Convention Center is going to serve as the nucleus of the media operations and showcase Dallas’ vibrant culture and our renowned hospitality to literally millions of viewers around the globe,” Johnson said. “We are more than ready to deliver a world-class experience.”

Johnson was downright giddy during Wednesday's press conference, reiterating his administration's dedication to recruiting and retaining professional sports. The fifth P of his priority list, if you will. But, as we mentioned, the IBC news was pretty much already set in stone, making the midweek ceremony come off as a whole lot of pomp and nothingstance.

The city is in the process of a $3.7 billion rebuild of the convention center, and some funding will be necessary for repairs so the facility can stay open and operating during that ongoing construction.

A portion of the $15 million contract approved late last year will go toward needed convention center maintenance. Rosa Fleming, director of the city’s convention and event services, told the City Council repairs to the facility's roof will need to be made and cargo lifts will need to be installed. A 24-hour cafeteria and lounge, express shipping, banking and dry cleaning services will be built or installed throughout the convention center to help host the thousands of professionals who will spend months calling the downtown facility home.

Dallas hosted the 1994 International Broadcast Center during that year's World Cup. FIFA noted Dallas’ prominent media market, central location within North America and the “connectivity” offered by DART and TRE as reasons for our city’s selection. (No one tell FIFA the Texas Lege may be about to axe the TRE entirely and shave down on DART’s services.)

Remarking that it is announcements like Wednesday’s that make her love her job, City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert lauded Dallas’ selection for IBC host as a “testament to our status.”

“We are also stepping on to the global stage in a way that truly exemplifies what Dallas is all about,” Tolbert said. “We’re bold. We’re ambitious. We’re exceptional.”

What would be truly exceptional is if the city puts some of that convention center upgrade money towards the facility’s chipped glass, which, after a shooting scare over the weekend, have convinced several Twitter users of a DPD conspiracy to cover up a crime scene.

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