Despite ‘Dallas Stadium,’ Arlington, Texas, is still winning the World Cup
The receipts won’t be tabulated for at least one more month, but despite yielding to FIFA’s demand to rename the stadium to “Dallas,” the city of Arlington should win this World Cup.
Three more World Cup matches are scheduled for Arlington Stadium in Arlington, Texas, which means two more weeks of what thus far is a bullet train of positivity, parties, good PR and sales taxes in the city that will end up hosting more games than any other in this tournament.
Debating what a city must surrender to host FIFA’s World Cup is always a contentious argument; Chicago is America’s third-largest city, and it passed on hosting any World Cup matches because it didn’t agree to FIFA’s magnificent mile-long list of borderline offensive demands.
Former Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel told Chicago’s NBC affiliate that FIFA wants all of the revenue from tickets, broadcasting, concessions and parking; it leaves the city to pay for public transit, police, fire, medical and VIP escorts.
“I was not gonna basically allow taxpayers of the city of Chicago to be dumb money,” he said. “They assumed that we were gonna take all the risk, and they were gonna get all the reward. I told them to take a hike.”
Not a terrible argument. And when you’re Chicago, you have leverage. Chicago doesn’t need the World Cup to attract anyone.
Arlington took the risk, and at least empirically the biggest winner in this city is Texas Live!, the “nightlife” spot next to Globe Life Mall that is one-half-mile walk from Arlington Stadium. Texas Live! has morphed into the just off-site epicenter of fun at the World Cup matches in Arlington.
On Tuesday, Norway defeated Ivory Coast 2-1 with a late goal by the real life Viking Braut Haaland to advance out of the first round of the knockout stage of what has been one of the best sporting events this area has ever seen.
Texas Live’s World Cup success
Whatever fear people had of empty hotel rooms and dead nightlife areas for this World Cup have not been realized. This tournament is generating obscene revenues.
On Tuesday morning, hours before Norway played Ivory Coast at noon, Texas Live! and the neighboring hotels that flank it were doing brisk business. The hotel lobbies and restaurants are full of people who aren’t staying there.
Patrons have been paying $20 cover charges just to walk in for the right to buy food and drink at one of the bars/restaurants inside the facility that shares a plaza area with Globe Life Mall. At 9:30 a.m., the place was packed with fans of Norway during what amounted to the best pep rally you’ve ever seen. These people know how to party, and sing, dance and row in unison.
What happened on Tuesday morning has been the norm for every match played in Arlington thus far.
Fans are using Texas Live! to “pre” and “post” party. For those who don’t have tickets, Texas Live! is thriving as an easily accessible watch party area to watch a tournament that has blown out every other sporting event going on this summer.
In the west outdoor area, fans are using it as the perfect spot to take umpteen photos with “Dallas Stadium” serving as the backdrop.
Tourists are using this place for something that has far exceeded what the designers could have ever hoped.
Texas Live! expansion?
The 2026 World Cup is not even over and there is already speculation that FIFA will want its premier event to return to the United States by 2038.
The biggest advantage that the U.S. has is that the infrastructure to host these large events is already in place; also, this will be the most profitable World Cup ever, as FIFA does not have to deal with many regulations and other government-issued restrictions for its price structure.
With the city of Arlington recently approving a measure to hand the Dallas Cowboys $273 million to help with improvements to update AT&T Stadium, it all but assures this venue will be relevant for another 20 years. Since we live in an era where sports stadiums now last only 30 years, extending this timeline is significant.
With the existence of AT&T Stadium and Globe Life Mall secure for another 20 years (we think), there could be an opportunity for Texas Live! to expand. To do so would require taking up space in the parking lot on the north side of Globe Life Field, or into the plaza area to the west of the Loews hotel.
Thus far, from Toronto to Guadalajara to Arlington, this World Cup is revealing a lot, including Arlington finally developing a spot that is convenient for fans before and after the events to eat, drink and party here was long overdue.
This story was originally published June 30, 2026 at 3:56 PM.
