Ingram's June 2022

E D I T O R ’ S N O T E

by Joe Sweeney

World Cup Kansas City

In the early 70s there was a remarkable economic development boom in Kansas City. Can we repeat the performance 50 years later? The opportunity is here. Kansas City has been selected as one of 16 North American cities to host the World Cup. This is a big deal. The Economic Impact for a host city for the World Cup is absolutely massive. Held every four years, the World Cup is easily the most watched sporting event in the world. Millions of eyes will be on Kansas City, possibly billions. We will be on the world map once again. The “I” in KCI may actually begin to have meaning. Perhaps as kids we took progress for granted. I was a 7th grader at St. Elizabeth’s in 1972, the year Arrowhead Stadium hosted its first Chiefs game. The following spring Royals Stadium opened across the parking lot from Arrowhead at the spanking new Truman Sports Complex. Kansas City International Airport also opened in 1972, as did the start of construction on KC’s then state of-the-art Bartle Hall Convention Center. These public improvements were accompanied by many ex traordinary private projects including the Hunt family’s Worlds of Fun amusement park which opened in the spring of 1973. J.C. Nichols Company’s flagship hotel Alameda Plaza, now the Inter Continental Kansas City, opened in 1972. Crown Center followed in 1973. Kemper Arena was completed in 1974, just two years before KC hosted the Republican National Convention. Everything was up to date in Kansas City!

Most readers will remember the MLB All Star Game and festivities in 2012, but how many remember the first All Star Game ever played in Kansas City in July of 1973? The Kansas City Royals played their first game in 1969 and put their stamp on the future by drafting George Brett right out of High School in 1971. I’ll never forget meeting many of the players in the lobby of the Alameda, including Johnny Bench of the Reds. I saw Mr. Bench years later at a conference in Chicago and asked if he remembered me. “Of course,” he replied. Kids are easily influenced, especially by sports celebri ties, and the opportunities for Kansas City area kids today are extraordinary. I am a believer that history tends to repeat, and while my mindset as an adult is obviously different than it was as a teen, the memories of the Chiefs winning Super Bowl III in January 1970 against the Vikings, the All Star Game in ’73, and the Royals winning the World Series in 1985 remain as fresh today as they did then. It’s once again an exciting era in Kansas City as there’s a healthy resur gence of public and private investment throughout the region. Our real strength as a region is our location at the nexus of North American Trade. Kansas City’s cen trality, coupled with the biggest boom in logistics in American history, brings this region to the forefront of North American commerce. Public projects such as the $1.5 billion state-of-the-art new single terminal at Kansas City International Airport that will open in 2023 give us a chance to high light our strengths. The airport will open just in time for the 2023 NFL Draft which will attract tens of thousands of important visitors to the area. Now, with the World Cup arriving in four short years, Kansas City has a chance to shine. COUNTDOWN TO THE WORLD CUP Kansas City’s bid—co-chaired by Kansas City Chiefs Chairman and CEO Clark Hunt and Sporting Kansas FAST FORWARD 50 YEARS

Joe Sweeney Editor-In-Chief and Publisher E | JSweeney @ Ingrams.com

photo courtesy of Sporting Kansas City

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June 2022

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