00:00Monica, thanks so much for being with us. We appreciate it, especially after your last month
00:05and a half. So appreciate your time. Thank you for having me. You've worked on this for more
00:09than nine years at the Dallas Sports Commission. Looking back at the World Cup and the North Texas
00:15bid, did it meet your expectations? Oh, I think it exceeded my expectations just to see what we
00:21were able to do, not only with the nine matches, but our fan festival, International Broadcast
00:25Center, the Media Center. Just how our community came together through this World Cup was something
00:31truly remarkable and special. I keep hearing this phrase, there was this news conference that sort
00:37of put it all together, Dallas as a global city. Do you think this really raised the profile of this
00:44area? Oh, yes. I think if you can see the media that covered it, the special events, the matches,
00:51the social media, people are out talking. I can already tell of the inquiries that we're getting
00:57of additional events, people interested in hosting additional events in the DFW region. So, you know,
01:03that was one of the main goals, along with the economic impact, raising the profile of Dallas in
01:08the DFW region. And we really want to be known as an international city. And I think hosting the World
01:14Cup may have done that for us. When you're talking about the economic impact, that hope was at 1.5
01:19to
01:19$2.1 billion impact. It's early, but what are you hearing?
01:24Right now, based off of the sellout crowds that we've had at all nine of our matches, the attendance
01:30at Fan Festival, the number of broadcasters, journalists, and media that were here for the
01:35International Broadcast Center, we're feeling like our projections are on top of the 1.5 to 2.1 billion.
01:44We're probably another two, three months away for us to be able to have a full financial report.
01:50But you think early signs are good?
01:52Early signs are good, yeah. We saw increased number of hotel bookings, definitely the spending,
01:59sales tax, the number of businesses, small businesses, as well as restaurants, attractions,
02:06all have shown some very positive signs. So very interested to see here what's coming in on some of
02:11the hots as well as the sales tax, sales and use tax.
02:15You know, there were a lot of questions regarding transportation going into this. There is no public
02:20transportation in Arlington where the stadium is. How do you feel that went?
02:26Oh my gosh. I can't say enough about Michael Morse and the North Central Texas Council of Governments
02:32and all of our transit agencies, DART, Trinity Metro. Our system was fantastic. It's actually
02:38something that we will probably continue to use for all major events. Just the number
02:43of buses, the ease of getting to Centerport Station and to the stadium and back, we had
02:49no major issues. And when people were getting off the train immediately on the bus into the
02:54stadium, we've heard very positive experiences.
02:57The video is pretty compelling coming from the fan festival.
03:01Oh my gosh. Fan festival. What type of energy there? I couldn't think our host city supporters,
03:08a lot of FIFA's commercial partners activated there. But the energy during many of the matches,
03:15especially the USA and Mexico matches there, those were our highest attended as well as the
03:20semifinal and the finals. But boy, we've heard experiences of people coming out. Oh,
03:30we were open for 34 days. So I think that says a lot about celebrating the World Cup.
03:34Do you have any preliminary numbers from the attendants there?
03:37No, we're still wrapping that up. I think we're well over probably six, 700,000 in attendance there.
03:46But boy, that was a powerful experience. And it truly is, became the heartbeat of the World Cup
03:51here in Dallas.
03:52What does all of this mean for a bid for the 2031 Women's World Cup?
03:57Oh, well, we knew that we needed to really perform and people were, I guess we're going to be on
04:03us,
04:03seeing how we were able to operate, how the stadium operated, how the transportation,
04:07our safety security measures were operating. And we're going to use this. So we feel like we have
04:12a good foundation. Obviously, it's maybe not apples to apples in terms of the Men's World Cup and
04:17women's. But that's where our sights are set next on what we need to do in order to secure a
04:22Women's
04:22World Cup for 2031.
04:24What's the lasting legacy of this in North Texas?
04:26Oh, I think it's a lot of many legacies, actually. You know, through this process,
04:31we set up the North Texas Sports Foundation. This is a 501c3 that we'll continue to live on.
04:38Right now, it's focused on soccer. We've dedicated numerous, many pitches.
04:41We're going to continue to do that well after this World Cup is over.
04:45But we've got sustainability efforts, human rights and human trafficking efforts that,
04:50from a programming standpoint, they're going to stay on with us. I think you've seen the growth
04:55of soccer or the interest in soccer. I think that helps us, not only our professional teams that
05:01are here, so FC Dallas, Athletico, but also we want to see the growth in the women's sports and
05:08women's soccer, both on the youth, grassroots university, collegiate side, all the way up to
05:13the professional side. You know, it feels like yesterday, but yet it's so long ago when we sat
05:18in Washington with the heads of all the bids of all of the cities. There were major concerns about
05:23security, getting that funded. Where did that land? We were successful in being able to secure
05:29the federal funding. So very thankful to the White House task force for the World Cup,
05:34Executive Director Giuliani. He and his team, as well as Trump administration,
05:39helped us secure the funding. And quite honestly, we would not have been able to put on this World Cup
05:44and have the safety measures that we have. We have some legacy initiatives with counter-UAS
05:52drone technology that was utilized during this World Cup that we're going to be able to take and
05:57utilize for all major events and just regular events here and in the other host cities going
06:03forward. So that was really special. The safety security efforts from a federal to state to local,
06:09regional, and even international, the communication and collaboration that took place was something
06:15that I hadn't seen before. And, you know, hopefully we have a lot of lessons learned on how to do
06:20this
06:20better for each of our cities. Before I let you go, I'm just curious, you brought a lot of events
06:25to this
06:26area. What was your best moment? Well, you know, I think you work on it for so many years. And
06:34then
06:34that first match, Netherlands, Japan, to actually get your first match underneath your belt. I actually
06:41had a chance to ride on the orange bus, the Netherlands bus. That was pretty spectacular to see
06:47all of those fans and just the joy and passion for all the teams and visitors that were here.
06:53I don't know. I'm going to miss it, I think. Well, you can start working on 2030. It'll be right
06:59there. One thing I did notice in this time period around town is everyone was talking about soccer.
07:06I mean, everyone is talking about soccer. And how do you keep that going? Well, I had so many
07:13conversations with people of like, I don't even understand soccer. I don't even know what a yellow
07:17card is, a red card is. I don't, you know, offside. What does this mean? By the end of the
07:23tournament,
07:23they were like, oh, I understand soccer. I want to find my team, whether that's FC Dallas or a Premier
07:29League team or another league. I want to find another team. And then you have the littles, the young kids
07:35that are, you know, just getting into sport. And, you know, plenty of programs here throughout the North
07:42Texas area for people to really stay engaged. And I think we're going to continue to see that because
07:47I think this, this World Cup was just so impactful. Thanks, Monica. We always appreciate you coming in.
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