BONUS: FC Dallas President & Co-Chair Dan Hunt on Hosting World Cup Games

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1:07Julie Fine:by putting AI where it actually pays off, deep in the work that moves the business. Let's create smarter business, IBM. Bloomberg Audio Studios. Podcasts, radio, news. This is Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio. Ding, ding, ding. We have a bonus segment, just like the price is right, for you today. Bloomberg's Texas Bureau Chief Julie Fine recently spoke with FC Dallas owner Dan Hunt. Julie joins us to tell us about that interview. Julie, welcome to the Bloomberg Business of Sports. Now, we're not going to give it all away, but what is something that Dan Hunt said that you're like, oh, wow?

1:53Julie Fine:I think that he said it was month 107 of him working on getting these World Cup games in Dallas. That really struck out at me. That was month 107. And then he went through the he's been to pretty much every World Cup since 1986. That stuck out at me. I think the part that really hit me was the emotion of this, that his father, the late Lamar Hunt, was instrumental in A, bringing Major League Soccer to the United States, but B, bringing the World Cup to Dallas back in 1994. He's obviously very close with his dad. And you could really tell that coming through. Yeah, I mean, like you said, their family was really instrumental.

2:37Julie Fine:His dad was really instrumental about creating the MLS. So did he tell you anything about how far they feel like the league has come and what they're planning to do about capitalizing on this World Cup? Yes, both. Because I asked him, I said, you know, while MLS has been here for some time, it hasn't caught up to the popularity of the NFL, of basketball, of other sports. And he did talk about how they haven't been around as long. And he also said that he hopes that through this World Cup, it gets more people interested. Now, what FC Dallas has done is they have a very big youth sports program.

3:13Julie Fine:But of course, he hopes it generates more interest. And he's made no secret of the fact that he hopes that the women's World Cup final is in Dallas in 2031. I know what y 'all are thinking. You're like, road trip. I will go to every single game of the women's World Cup in 2031. And I just think that that just means for a celebration for you, Julie. I think that you're just going to be celebrating right along with Dan. Well, as you all know, I love to be a host. Randall has visited us in Dallas. I think many times with certainly not enough time. So as much as we can have these events and bring all my colleagues in, I really enjoy it.

3:53Julie Fine:You know, I really enjoy having people here and showing off our great state. But honestly, I mean, they are really thrilled about where this World Cup is. He's really optimistic that every game at AT &T, well, now Dallas Stadium, is going to sell out. So he explained that they have to raise the pitch here a little bit. So it's over 80 ,000 seats in each game. We've got nine games. So you're looking at 720 ,000 seats. He feels very comfortable that it's going to it's going to sell out here. Don't forget, we have Houston as well. Houston is super exciting. They start their games on Sunday as well.

4:27Julie Fine:So this is a great time to be a sports fan in Texas. I do wonder from Dan's perspective, there is this notion that this World Cup could be the revival of soccer here in the U.S., that it could bring this wave of popularity similar to that is in Europe and potentially, you know, Brazil and all these other countries in South America and overseas. I wonder from your perspective in speaking with him, you said he hopes, but is there an expectation for that to happen? Or do you think it's connected to the Team USA success? I think there's an expectation, you know, that with all this attention on soccer, that it really fuels the fire around the sport.

5:08Julie Fine:I think there's hope and I think there's expectation that it will do so. Well, enough about me and listening to me blah, blah, blah. Let's get to it. Bloomberg's Texas Bureau Chief Julie Fine. She interviewed FC Dallas owner Dan Hunt. Let's take a listen. Dan Hunt, president and co-owner of FC Dallas. Always great to have you back here. Yeah, great to see you, Julie. Also, I want to talk to you being co-chair of the organizing committee in North Texas. I know this has been a long, long venture for you being involved with this. How do you feel going in?

5:42Dan Hunt:Yeah, I'm excited. I'm about to enter month 107 working on the World Cup. And it has finally all come to fruition. And it's so great to get that first kick coming up in a couple days.

5:54Julie Fine:Dallas Sports Commission has estimated more than a$1.5 billion economic boost to the area, up to over$2 billion. Does that come to fruition?

6:04Dan Hunt:Yes, I believe it will come to fruition. If you think about Super Bowls, the average visitor comes for less than three days. And we have nine Super Bowls with nine games in Dallas. But visitors in the World Cup come for just under 10 days. And so they'll be staying in our hotels, spending at restaurants, buying gas, going to retail. So I see a huge economic boom for our area.

6:25Julie Fine:Talk about now it's Dallas Stadium. We know it as AT &T Stadium, but it's certainly Dallas Stadium now. FIFA estimates that it will hold more than 90 ,000 people for World Cup games. If you do the math there, that's more than 845 ,000 for the total nine matches. First of all, what do you think of those numbers?

6:42Dan Hunt:I mean, the scale of this is so massive, and I don't know that we'll be in the 90s for World Cup games. We're raising the pitch at AT &T Stadium by four or five feet, which will have some seat kills associated with that. But, you know, if you even think about it, between 700 ,000 and 800 ,000 tickets is a huge number. Frankly, I need for there to be more tickets with the number of ticket requests that I've had over the last couple of months. And so it's great. In this entire tournament, there could be over 7 million tickets available.

7:09Julie Fine:Do you think the games in Dallas will sell out? There's been a lot of questions about sellouts, period.

7:15Dan Hunt:Yeah, I think the games in Dallas will sell out. If you think about the matches that we have, five great group stage games with powerhouses like England, Croatia, Japan, Holland, Argentina with Messi. I think those games will sell out. When you get into the later games, the opponents aren't defined, right, because those are elimination games and they're coming out of their different groups. But this is a sports city. It has a gigantic sports appetite. So I think the stadiums will be full.

7:41Julie Fine:I want to talk to you about the ticket prices. And again, I know those are set by FIFA. It does not go through the host committees. But there's a lot of questions about the pricing, how many were available, and the rollout. Do you think that affects attendance overall?

7:54Dan Hunt:You know, it's hard to say. I don't think it will affect attendance. The rollout is a little bit nontraditional, how we would do it in American sports. but FIFA has their way of doing it. And they've gotten some criticism over the prices, and they went back and repriced some cheaper tickets. And what I would say is there's a market demand for this, and the revenue they generate from the World Cup supports soccer globally. Their initiatives from grassroots to growing the men's game, growing the women's game, all the money associated with prize money, player money to clubs, and just in developing nations and helping the game along.

8:28Dan Hunt:And this is really their pinnacle, you know, tentpole moment that they have every four years. And so I know there's a it's a delicate balance, right? You want it affordable for fans because fans make the game. But you also need to be able to have, you know, the money to help support the game for the next four years.

8:46Julie Fine:Soccer is obviously extremely important to you. You are actually a sponsor in Dallas for the World Cup. You are a personal sponsor. Let's talk a little bit about why you decided to do that.

8:57Dan Hunt:Yeah, I'm proud to be a hometown supporter for Dallas. It was important to me. I mean, I can put my time and effort behind this, which, like I said, has been almost 107 months. And it also shows my enthusiasm for it to put financial support. I want this to leave a lasting legacy. And that support will go to help creating mini pitches and communities around in areas that need fields, safe spaces for kids to play soccer, and also help support our local organizing committee. I mean, putting on a World Cup is incredibly expensive. And also we have this gigantic fan fest at Fair Park for those that aren't going to World Cup matches.

9:34Dan Hunt:We'll have 35 ,000 people a day at Fair Park.

9:36Julie Fine:You've not specified how much you have put in personally. Is it over a million?

9:41Dan Hunt:It's a multimillion dollar investment, and I'm proud to do it. This is me supporting soccer and also supporting the game I love so much.

9:49Julie Fine:I want to take a step back here. Your father, when you look at it, just instrumental in beginning Major League Soccer in the United States. What's so interesting to me is he, too, served as a co-chair of the Dallas Host Committee. That's back in 1994. Emotionally, what has this been like for you?

10:05Dan Hunt:It's been an amazing journey is what it's been like. So many of the similarities, the hard work that goes into it, the countless meetings, speaking engagements, raising enthusiasm, fighting for the International Broadcast Center. He was so proud of that in 1994, having it at Fair Park. We get to have it again here in Dallas at the Kay Bailey Hutchinson Convention Center. This is where the storytelling of World Cup 2026 will take place, broadcasting back to almost 200 countries. And that was so important to him. And I see it now as I'm more an older adult and experiencing this and being able to share those commonalities.

10:43Dan Hunt:It really is that connection. My dad's been gone for a long time now, but it just touches the heart. It really brings you back to so many happy memories. He was so proud to bring the World Cup to Dallas in 1994.

10:57Julie Fine:You were there, and you've been to every World Cup since. You just kind of went through a laundry list of all the games you've been to in all the places. Is there anything that specifically stuck out to you?

11:08Dan Hunt:Oh, I mean, there's so many memories. I've been to every World Cup since 1986, seen over 130 World Cup matches. Here's what sticks out to me, and this is my big hope for our visitors and guests. and the locals going to games, that you create lifetime memories with families and friends. There have been so many great memories, so many great experiences, experiencing cultures. I hope our visitors get to experience this Texas hospitality. We do it bigger and better than anyone else.

11:34Julie Fine:Your family's invested so much into Major League Soccer over the years. It's the most popular sport in the world, but here in the United States, it's not football, basketball, baseball. Why do you think it's taking this long for soccer to really make those inroads?

11:50Dan Hunt:Well, if you really think about Major League Soccer, we're only 31 plus years old now. If you think about the game in Europe, a lot of these leagues and teams are over 100 years. So they have this unbelievable history, much longer than anything we've seen so far in soccer. And if you look at where Major League Soccer has come from 1996 to today, I mean, it's just a monumental shift. So I think we're on this unbelievable trajectory. It's not the NFL. It's not the NBA. But my father was a big believer that in 50 years, soccer could catch those leagues.

12:24Julie Fine:One area where soccer is growing exponentially, and you're very involved, is youth sports.

12:30Dan Hunt:Youth sports, it's right. That is the lifeblood of soccer. The rest of the world develops a lot of their own players, and those players go through to the professional teams. We do an amazing job at FC Dallas of doing that. If you look at the U.S. men's national team, you'll have four FC Dallas players on the team. Ricardo Pepe, Weston McKinney, Chris Richards, and Alejandro Zendejas. All four of those players came from the FC Dallas youth system. And that's how the game is played globally. You develop your own talent, and we lead that whole area.

13:00Julie Fine:On the business side of this, in terms of your growing brands, broadcast rights, what are your thoughts on Lionel Messi and revenue-sharing, ownership rights? Is that the future here?

13:10Dan Hunt:MLS was modeled after the NFL. My father was really the father of Major League Soccer, and he borrowed a lot of those revenue-sharing models from the NFL. And so, yeah, having Lionel Messi play in the league has been an unbelievable uptick there. But working with Apple, too, this amazing change we're about to have. This year we moved in front of the paywall so you can watch Ted Lasso and watch FC Dallas without having to pay extra. But we're also changing our schedule to a traditional European calendar next year, and I think that's going to really be a boost for the league. What do you hope comes from this World Cup bid?

13:44Dan Hunt:A couple of things. Like I said, lifetime memories for family and friends. I hope it inspires the American Messi. I hope it inspires a young person who wasn't going to pick soccer to wind up picking Major League Soccer, picking FC Dallas, developing here. I think that would be great for the game. And look, they say one of the biggest statistics is hosting nations of World Cups, that their national team has a successful tournament. Their average attendance increases by 30 % after the World Cup. So I hope that for all professional soccer in America.

14:14Julie Fine:Women's World Cup in the United States in 2031.

14:18Dan Hunt:It's coming. We're going to start working on it in August. We've already started, but really get going in August of this year. My stated goal is to bring the final to Dallas in the Women's World Cup in 2031. I'm so excited for this. I have two young daughters that are soccer players. I want to show them that anything is possible and to get to share more of the beautiful game with local citizens or my fellow Texan. It's going to be an incredible honor and welcome more global guests to Dallas.

14:45Julie Fine:I want to know what keeps you up at night as you put this bid together.