By MATT PIKE
The 2026 FIFA World Cup began yesterday. And as the World Cup begins, the Buchanan County Sheriff's Department is prepared for a possibility of an influx of visitors.
Captain Mike Hess says the department has been prepping since around October of last year, but says projected numbers show a high number of visitors are expected to Kansas City and the surrounding area over the next months
"The number that was kind of anticipated was anywhere between 650,000 visitors over the course of the month, all the way up to 2 to 3 million, and somewhere in between," Hess says on the KFEQmunnity show. "And we're very fortunate Kansas City is hosting four teams, and three of the four are Top 10 teams, so obviously they're going to get a lot of attention, have a tremendous fan base for each one that hopefully they travel to the area and bring good economic status and availability to the area."
Thus far, the number of visitors is unclear, with the event just kicking off, Hess saying they haven't seen any impact just yet. He expects to see an impact in the traffic numbers.
"Because obviously people have to travel to Kansas City to participate in the Fanfest or matches, but it's day one of the Fanfest, the first match isn't until next Tuesday," Hess explains. "So, we're still in the waiting period of seeing exactly what the impact in the St. Joseph, Buchanan County area is going to be."
During the World Cup, Hess reports that the Buchanan County Sheriff's Department will be operating at 100% staffing to ensure deputies are visible and available. Also, the department is partnering with Kansas City to assist during the World Cup events as well.
"Through the World Cup we will be sending staff members down to work security, whatever that looks like, whether it be at Arrowhead or at Fanfest, or something in between with the hotels," Hess says. "Any of those different assignments are available to us and we anticipate starting that, at least for us locally, our first assignment is June 13th down there."
Hess says for deputies this provides a once-in-a-lifetime experience to work at an event of this caliber and says many staff members even volunteered days off to go to Kansas City and work the event.
The first World Cup Game at Arrowhead Stadium, or Kansas City Stadium as it will be known during the FIFA World Cup, will be Tuesday at 8pm
Interview
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