Frisco business owners prepare for influx of international visitors during World Cup
Frisco, which has branded itself “Sports City USA,” will live up to that name this summer, serving as a FIFA World Cup base camp for the Swedish Men’s National Team. The team will practice at Toyota Stadium and stay at the Westin Dallas Stonebriar. The city is gearing up to show fans from Sweden a taste of Southern hospitality.
Sweden is slated to play Japan on June 25 in Arlington. The stadium there will also host eight other matches that are expected to bring thousands of fans from Japan, the Netherlands, Argentina and other countries to the Dallas area and generate up to $2 billion in economic impact.
“This is not a Super Bowl. This is a Super Bowl on steroids and we’re hosting nine of them in this market,” Djorn Buchholz, executive director of the National Soccer Hall of Fame at Toyota Stadium, said Tuesday morning. He was a panelist at an event hosted by the Frisco Chamber of Commerce about how local business owners can welcome international visitors.
Buchholz, who will serve as a FIFA liaison overseeing operations at Toyota Stadium, said the stadium will be on lockdown during Sweden’s training sessions. Workers will spend about six hours setting up players’ gear and walking the pitch in preparation for the team’s 90-minute practices. Buchholz expects the team to open one practice session up to the public.
Panelist Josh Dill, assistant executive director for Visit Frisco, the city’s tourism arm, said visitors and Frisco residents can still be involved throughout the tournament. The city will livestream 97 out of the tournament’s 104 matches at Simpson Plaza in front of Frisco City Hall thanks to a special agreement between FC Dallas, the Major League Soccer team headquartered in Frisco, and FIFA.
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Tickets for these watch parties will be free and available to anyone, but Frisco residents will get first dibs. Dill expects up to 2,000 attendees at each watch party, which should draw people to patronize businesses in Frisco Square and the nearby Rail District.
Buchholz encouraged business owners to make sure their staff members are welcoming and their stores are easy to navigate for visitors who may not be fluent in English.
“That is something that translates across all languages, all nationalities,” Buchholz said.
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Dill urged business owners to give visitors a taste of Texas culture and said they should get used to seeing international tourists as the city prepares to host the PGA Championship next year.
He is also hopeful the city may be involved in the 2031 FIFA Women’s World Cup, which the United States is currently making a joint bid to host with three other countries. When the renovation of Toyota Stadium is completed in 2028, it will have about 10% more seating and be able to host matches from the group stage to quarterfinals, Dill said.
Business owners at the event had different takeaways on how they will be adapting for World Cup visitors.
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Brian Gardner, who works at a company that manages hotels including the Canopy by Hilton Dallas Frisco Station, said he plans to look into stocking snacks from different countries in minibars so international visitors feel welcomed.
Babe’s Chicken Dinner House manager Scott Avery said his restaurant probably wouldn’t do much differently this summer.
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“We’re not changing anything,” Avery said. “We’re authentically Texas.”
