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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Less than a month before the FIFA World Cup arrives in Kansas City, Clark Hunt is reflecting on the decades of work that helped bring the world’s biggest sporting event to the heart of America.
In an exclusive interview you will see only on FOX4, the Kansas City Chiefs chairman and owner gave us an inside look at what this moment means to him—and how the journey started with his father, the late Lamar Hunt, more than 30 years ago.
“I literally remember being in this corner with my dad talking to the FIFA officials in 1990, trying to describe how we would get this kind of width,” Hunt told FOX4.
Soccer has long been woven into the Hunt family legacy.
Hunt’s father, Lamar – already a trailblazer in American football and one of the founders of the American Football League – played a pivotal role in helping establish professional soccer in the United States.
He founded a team in the North American Soccer League in the late 1960s and later became a founding investor in Major League Soccer during the mid-1990s.
The Kansas City Wizards, which eventually became Sporting Kansas City, once played at Arrowhead Stadium. Those decades of investment laid the groundwork for Kansas City to host the World Cup.
Hunt, who played soccer in college himself, has continued pushing that vision forward.
“It’s hard to imagine an event that’s bigger than the Super Bowl, but the World Cup really is,” Hunt said.
When asked what it will mean when teams finally take the pitch in Kansas City this summer, Hunt pointed back to his father.
“I’ll think a whole lot about my dad because he loved the sport. We have so many fond memories as a family attending World Cups together – and to have games in his favorite place on earth Arrowhead Stadium will be very, very meaningful for me and my family,” he said.
Kansas City is the smallest of the 16 World Cup host cities, but Hunt said several factors helped convince FIFA to bring matches to the metro.
“First of all, this beautiful stadium and the fact that this stadium has a reputation now of hosting big events. Secondly is the unparalleled soccer infrastructure here in Kansas City; both Sporting Kansas City and the Kansas City Current are responsible for that – those franchises have amazing training facilities,” he said.
“Thirdly, I would say…selling FIFA on what a special place Kansas City is.”
At first, FIFA leaders were reportedly skeptical when they arrived in Kansas City for site visits.
But ultimately, the organization selected the metro to host six World Cup matches including a quarterfinal with economic impact estimates topping $600 million.
Hunt said the long-term impact could go far beyond tourism dollars.
“I think more importantly will be the legacy,” he said. “Billions of TV viewers…who will watch games here from Arrowhead Stadium are going to learn about Kansas City, and I would expect over time that will have a very positive impact on the city from a business standpoint and also from a cultural standpoint.”
Hunt also described the magnitude of hosting a World Cup quarterfinal match in Kansas City.
“As a spectacle there’s really nothing like it. It’s the greatest sporting competition in the world,” he said.
“Literally the eyes of the world will be on Kansas City…that evening,” Hunt said when asked about that quarterfinal game.
The conversation also turned toward one of the tournament’s most anticipated moments: defending champion Lionel Messi and the Argentina National Football Team opening their title defense in Kansas City.
“I think we’re going to have thousands of Argentinean fans with their very distinctive national team jersey on; you can just imagine Lionel Messi stepping on to the pitch making that first touch on the ball. It’s going to be something that everybody is going to remember,” Hunt said.
Hunt has attended 12 of the last 13 World Cups and said preparations inside Arrowhead Stadium are nearly complete.
“I would say we’re about 90 percent ready; the hard work was done last summer,” Hunt said.
“We have it in soccer mode at this point with he wider field. In fact, this grass was just laid in the last week; it’ll be maturing over the next month – and by the time we get to mid-June, we’re going to be ready to roll.”
While Hunt is deeply connected to the event, he still had one prediction left to make. Who’s going to win it all?
“Well, I’m going to jump out there and say the U.S.,” he said.
For Hunt, though, the most emotional moment may come June 16, when the defending champions from Argentina walk onto the field at Arrowhead Stadium – the place his father loved.
“Yeah, 100 percent I’ll stand up there with my sibling, and we’ll talk a lot about my dad how much he would have been thrilled to know that Kansas City finally got a World Cup,” Hunt said.
As for what Hunt plans to enjoy while watching matches, he said he’s looking forward to a Diet Coke, chicken tenders and onion rings.
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