America Signed Up for the World Cup. FIFA Stuck You with the Tab.

Summary

Podcast Summary: Pablo Torre Finds Out

Episode: America Signed Up for the World Cup. FIFA Stuck You with the Tab.

Date: June 11, 2026
Host: Pablo Torre | Guest: Adam Crafton (The Athletic), with excerpts from Rahm Emanuel and other sources

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Overview

This episode of "Pablo Torre Finds Out" digs deep into the uncomfortable economics and politics of hosting the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the United States. Pablo Torre, joined by The Athletic’s Adam Crafton, investigates who’s really footing the bill for this mega sporting event, revealing how American cities and taxpayers have agreed to contracts and demands that channel massive public funds to FIFA—often with little clear return. Featuring interviews with figures like former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, the episode balances humor with hard facts as it exposes layers of bureaucracy, ego, and national pride—plus the petty local rivalries and bewildering negotiations that characterize America’s World Cup experience.

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Main Discussion Points and Insights

1. Setting the Scene: Adam Crafton’s Perspective

• [02:52]: Adam Crafton, newly minted American green card holder and two-time UK Sports Journalist of the Year, discusses moving to the US specifically to cover the World Cup build-up.
• [04:33]: He brings a "folder of documents" reflecting the mountains of paperwork cities must navigate with FIFA.

2. FIFA’s Infamous Business Model and American Contracts

• [05:09] & [07:19]: Discussion of FIFA’s global reputation for financial opacity, inflated projections, and "exceptionalism."
• FIFA claims the U.S. economy will get a $30 billion economic impact and 200,000 permanent jobs—numbers that invite skepticism.

  “That’s a lot of billions.” — Adam Crafton [08:11]

• [09:05]: FIFA has, for this tournament, centralized control and avoided a local organizing committee, establishing direct offices—including one in Trump Tower.

3. Negotiations, Local Challenges, and Petty Rivalries

• [10:16]: Instead of simple top-down agreements, FIFA and host cities must negotiate at multiple government levels, leading to complexities and holdouts (e.g., Foxborough demanding $8M up front for security).
• [11:27]–[13:12]: Petty local politics, particularly between “New York/New Jersey” vs. “New Jersey/New York,” lead to sign changes and regional pride battles.

  “One of the more New Jersey requests... the sign on the stadium... now on a request from the governor’s office, one of them will say, New Jersey, New York Stadium.” — Adam Crafton [12:29]

4. Host City Obligations: Who Pays for What?

• [15:18]–[19:47]:
  • FIFA keeps all major revenue streams: broadcasting, sponsorship, concessions, parking, and ticket sales.
  • Cities cover: transportation (initially free, later “at cost”), security (police/fire/medical), crowd control, and much more, including exorbitant costs for things like police escorts, even for undefined "VVIPs."

  “What’s to stop FIFA from saying there’s 10,000 people who we consider to be VIPs?” — Adam Crafton [20:26]

5. Negotiation Realities: What’s In It for Cities?

• U.S. cities’ confidence sometimes clashed with FIFA’s self-image:

  “Sorry, can I just check? What exactly are we getting out of this?” (LA Sports Commission at Sofi Stadium)
  “This will put Los Angeles on the map.” (FIFA exec) [22:55]

• Local officials, particularly Rahm Emanuel, refused to play along with “bad deals”.

  “You expect me to treat the Chicago taxpayers as the dumb money at the table? You gotta be kidding me.” — Rahm Emanuel [32:37] “I’ve passed 8th grade math and the numbers don’t work.” — Rahm Emanuel [25:16]

6. The “Clean Stadium” Rule & American Branding Anxiety

• [27:42]–[31:14]: FIFA insists all stadium branding (like “Mercedes-Benz Stadium”) be stripped or covered, requiring even directional road signs to be changed. Only Atlanta received an exemption, causing frustration among other cities.

  “I mean, airspace above and around the stadium. I’m not sure what would be in the airspace.” — Adam Crafton [30:36]

7. Cities Say ‘No’ (Chicago’s Tactics)

• [33:14]: After being asked to consider building a dome on Soldier Field, Rahm Emanuel withdrew Chicago's bid. To reject FIFA’s terms, Chicago returned a signed contract with an asterisk itemizing conditions FIFA would never accept.

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Case Studies: Money Pits & Local Impact

Dallas – The $15M International Broadcast Center

• [37:41]: Dallas agreed to renovate a 500,000 sq ft facility for FIFA’s exclusive media use—financed with $15M in city funds. The center will be destroyed after the tournament, with FIFA contributing nothing to its construction.

Kansas City – “The Soccer Capital” and Its Pop-Up Jail

• [40:15]–[49:32]:
  • Kansas City and surrounding states put up at least $175M in public money (including grants and infrastructure).
  • Funding included $25.8M for a “modular jail,” built by Guantanamo contractor KBR, meant to house World Cup detainees. It was not completed in time for the tournament.

  “The World Cup jail is not ready for the World Cup.” — Adam Crafton [49:32]

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Sales Tax Giveaways and Fiscal (Mis)calculation

• [52:42]–[56:18]:
  • Several states (Georgia, Florida, Missouri) waived sales tax on World Cup tickets to secure hosting rights, costing them up to $60M.
  • Missouri’s fiscal analysis badly underestimated revenue losses, using outdated World Cup ticket prices.

  “Their calculation, you’re saying was wrong?” — Pablo Torre [54:47] “It comes out as $15.7 million compared to that $5.9 million. So that is a huge gap, really…” — Adam Crafton [55:13]

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Last Word on Regret and Learning for Future Events

• [57:42]–[59:27]:
  • A coalition of current and future host cities drafted (but never sent) a letter admitting “significant operational, financial, and contractual challenges” with FIFA’s hosting arrangements—citing frustration and a need for a better legacy.
  • Ultimately, cities acknowledge they were not forced into these deals, but many now regret the scale of their commitments.

  “Nobody forced a city to apply for this. Nobody forced a city to agree to these terms.” — Adam Crafton [57:42]

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• Petty Rivalries:

  “One of the more New Jersey requests...” — Adam Crafton [12:32]

• Hard-Nosed Negotiation:

  “I don’t need you for marketing. You think Chicago needs you for marketing? Not happening.” — Rahm Emanuel [25:16]

• Branding Rules Gone Wild:

  “You have to wipe all of this branding from all official communications, even... road signage...” — Adam Crafton [28:21]

• Pop-Up Jail Absurdism:

  “It looks like an ICE detention center.” — Kansas City city councilwoman during meeting [47:42] “Glad we got the Guantanamo Bay guys in Kansas City.” — Pablo Torre [49:05]

• Why the Cities Complied:

  “They signed the deal, right? Nobody had a gun to the head and forced them…” — Adam Crafton [14:11]

• Sarcastic Cheer:

  “Perfect.” (on Dallas’ $15M demolition of broadcast center) — Pablo Torre [39:50]

• Coda:

  “This is not only a great exhibit in journalism, but it is also a great exhibit in what it means to be American.” — Pablo Torre [60:03]

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Key Timestamps

• [02:52] – Adam Crafton’s move to US; World Cup context
• [07:19] – FIFA’s economic claims
• [09:05] – FIFA’s operational control tactics in US cities
• [10:16] – Local city negotiations and Foxborough standoff
• [13:12] – Regional brand identity tensions (New York/New Jersey signage)
• [15:18]–[19:47] – Who pockets revenue, who pays the bills
• [22:55] – LA’s confrontation with FIFA: “What exactly are we getting?”
• [25:16] & [32:37] – Rahm Emanuel’s hardline on Chicago finances
• [27:42]–[31:14] – The “clean stadium” rule and its absurdities
• [37:41]–[39:51] – The Dallas international broadcast center, built and then demolished
• [40:15]–[49:32] – Kansas City’s expenditures and the modular jail saga
• [52:42]–[56:18] – States waive ticket sales taxes for FIFA; bad fiscal math
• [57:42]–[59:27] – Drafting (but not sending) a collective letter of regret about the hosting agreements

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Summary Tone

Pablo and Adam mix light sarcasm, journalistic rigor, and incredulity. The episode is fast-paced, witty, and filled with eye-opening details, keeping the investigation informative yet accessible—inviting listeners to laugh, groan, and question what it means when mega-events promise the world but leave the bill.

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For listeners interested in the odd intersection of global sports and local public spending, this episode provides a field guide to the tangled, sometimes farcical realities behind America’s biggest-ever sports event.

Transcript

[Pablo Torre]

Welcome to Pablo Torre Finds Out. I am Pablo Torre and today we're going to find out what this sound is.

[Rahm Emanuel]

You expect me to treat the Chicago taxpayers as the dumb money at the table? You got to be kidding me.

[Pablo Torre]

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[Pablo Torre]

this episode is brought to you by Gradient FC, the go to Soccer app for player discovery and analysis. If you're somebody who doesn't follow soccer year round but suddenly gets pulled into the World cup conversation every four years like the rest of us, this app is made for you. Gradient FC makes it really easy to figure out who matters, why they matter, and what exactly makes certain players elite. You can explore global player rankings across Europe's top five leagues, filter by nationality, position, age and more, and quickly get up to speed before the World cup takes over sports discourse then this summer, what's really cool is that Gradient FC's player grades are not just surface level numbers. They evaluate the context behind over 2000 actions per match with analysis from real expert graders including former players, coaches and analysts. So you're getting a much deeper understanding of how players actually impact games with the data that is trusted by scouting departments across Europe. And if you love sports debates, the comparison tools are kind of addictive. You can go head to head between players across more than 100 different grades and metrics to actually back up your takes. So whether you're brand new to soccer or already locked in for the World Cup, Gradient FC is the app for you. This summer, discover and Compare [e-mail] or download the Gradient FC app from any app Store. Can we talk about your green card? Is that. Is that.

[Adam Crafton]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Pablo Torre]

You have a green card. Adam Crafton, Congratulations.

[Adam Crafton]

Thank you very much. Yeah, no, that came through in the mail last week, so that is a huge relief. And it also now means, I don't know if people know this who live in America, but once you're in the process trying to adjust your status from non immigrant to immigrant, you can't leave the country during this process. So if I would have gone home for a birthday or to see some friends or whatever, then you have to start your entire application again. So I thought it was going to take. We expected it to take between 3 and 12 months and thankfully it's come through super fast. So thank you, America.

[Pablo Torre]

You're welcome. I wanted to start here because I wanted to congratulate you on apparently being trapped with us.

[Adam Crafton]

Trapped in the best way.

[Pablo Torre]

And you moved here because of what's happening right now, which is the World cup being a New York, New Jersey joint.

[Adam Crafton]

Exactly. So I moved March 2024 and the idea was to develop contacts, build relationships, start to get stories in the lead up to the World cup. It was a good chance to kind of actually get here, get feet on the ground, start to get to know people, get a sense of what the challenges and the storylines were going to be. And I guess that leads us nicely into where we may go.

[Pablo Torre]

Yeah, I mean, you are, for those not initiated, you're the guy I've been turning to to help me understand what the is going on in now our country. You are the two time reigning sports journalist of the year in the uk.

[Adam Crafton]

Thank you.

[Pablo Torre]

I mean, that's just what I'm just, I'm just stating facts. And you're on loan from the Athletic FC to help. I think more than anything today. Bring me a folder of documents.

[Adam Crafton]

I have a folder, an entire folder of documents.

[Pablo Torre]

Do you want them?

[Adam Crafton]

Am I keeping them?

[Pablo Torre]

I think I.

[Adam Crafton]

It's a lot of documents to convey

[Pablo Torre]

the tabs and the color codedness and all of this and just the sound which I think our microphones can pick up as I. That's the sound of American exceptionalism, I guess in figurative and also perhaps literal ways.

[Adam Crafton]

Well, it's also FIFA exceptionalism in terms of much of that are contracts that cities have with FIFA and all of the different reasons why my money, your money is being spent on this tournament.

[Pablo Torre]

So from a big thousand foot view, I should say I got to cover the 2014 World cup in Brazil and I got a sense on the ground of what I Had heard from afar, which is there is a lot of money sloshing around here. FIFA, for those not initiated, is the apex predator of notoriously corrupt sporting organizations.

[Adam Crafton]

We should say historically corrupt at this point. At this point, I think FIFA would push back strongly on that.

[Pablo Torre]

But this story, as much as people may think, okay, yeah, you're talking about FIFA corruption. Johnny Infantino, the head of FIFA, and President Donald Trump, we see them all the time exchanging golden objects. We start with our sports lead. President Trump finally has his Peace Prize. No, not the Nobel Peace Prize, which is the world's most prestigious and one that President Trump has long coveted. This one is the FIFA Peace Prize.

[Gianni Infantino]

Mr. President, this is your prize. This is your peace prize. There is also a beautiful medal for you that you can wear everywhere you want to go

[Donald Trump]

right now.

[Adam Crafton]

Okay, let me hold.

[Gianni Infantino]

Fantastic. Excellent.

[Donald Trump]

Such an honor to be with Johnny. I've known Johnny for so long. He's done such an incredible job. And I have to tell you, you've set new records on ticket sales and that is an amazing thing. The numbers are beyond any numbers that anybody, even beyond what Johnny thought was possible. I want to thank.

[Adam Crafton]

If you think of Trump in the most basic terms, he seems to be someone who is impressed by big, by bold, by eye catching numbers, by numbers that are sometimes inflated. So I think, you know, if you put in front of him things that are gold, things that are glitzy, things that sound large, he tends to be impressed and it tends to be less about, is this good value and more about, wow, that's huge. And Infantino is very, very good at presenting large numbers.

[Pablo Torre]

Just the numbers on this. In terms of how much FIFA is spending, we're looking at, again, just the basic math of it. Operating budget, $1.12 billion. The projected revenue, $11 billion. And Infantino is saying it's 30.5 billion. In terms of what the U.S. economy

[Gianni Infantino]

would get, I mean, the economic impact only in the US is around 30 billion. It's around 200,000 permanent jobs which are created. As far as we are concerned, we have 5,000 employees working only on this. We'll have around 300,000 people. We will have 6 billion people in the planet watching the World Cup. This is absolutely incredible. It's 104 games, 104 matches in 39 days. It's like 1, 104 Super Bowls.

[Pablo Torre]

That's a lot of billions.

[Adam Crafton]

It's a lot of billions.

[Donald Trump]

Right.

[Adam Crafton]

And what is economic impact and how much of that economic impact is additional to what would already, what A city would already get, you know, in a usual summer in the United States when you have concerts and festivals and all different stuff that goes on in New York and LA and Miami and all of these different places. So how much of that value is additional and can really be attributed to a World Cup?

[Pablo Torre]

Well, I wanna bring us to what is different about this World cup because this event is different from the ones that you and I have covered in the past. Yeah.

[Adam Crafton]

And it's really on an operational level. So historically FIFA would have a local organizing committee for the host country. So in Qatar it was kind of the slightly Orwellianly named Qatar Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy.

[Pablo Torre]

That's right.

[Adam Crafton]

Of the FIFA World Cup.

[Pablo Torre]

Great merch, great merch. Great. Committee for Delivery and Legacy.

[Adam Crafton]

Right. Like you're desperate to buy that baseball cap. Right. For this one. FIFA have kind of taken it in house. So they've opened up offices in Miami, in New York City, they have an office in Trump Tower. Wonder how that came about.

[Pablo Torre]

Sheer coincidence, I'm sure.

[Adam Crafton]

Sheer coincidence. And as a result of that, it gives them a lot more control over the operations, the revenue. But as part of that, they've created these host agreements and host committees, sort of subsidiaries in each of the 16 host cities across Canada, the United States and Mexico. And there's 11 in the United States. And it gives FIFA a hell of a lot more control.

[Pablo Torre]

Well, part of FIFA's American experiment is the understanding we can't just deal with Trump alone. Actually, it may seem like Trump is the key to everything because that is his own self image and also what these videos suggest. But part of what you are learning as a legal immigrant to this country is that, wait a minute, these states and cities, you gotta go through them too. And this is something that I myself didn't really think about until I started reading your reporting, which has been, I mean, at this point quite endless.

[Adam Crafton]

And that has created real challenges for FIFA because it means you need agreements and buy in and investments, not just from the federal government, but, but from states, from cities, from mayors. I mean, infamously now in Foxborough, which is the little town, the Gillette Stadium, near to Boston.

[Pablo Torre]

Yes, home of the Patriots.

[Adam Crafton]

The little town was refusing to give a license to FIFA for quite a while in the lead up to this tournament because they were being asked to kind of front the bill. FIFA has less than two weeks to

[Roxana Reyes]

convince Foxborough town officials to let them

[Adam Crafton]

host the same seven matches at Gillette Stadium.

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The town says it won't issue a

[Adam Crafton]

required license to organizers until it gets nearly $8 million up front for security. They basically said, until someone else, whether that's FIFA Boston or the subsidiary host committee, commits to covering this, we will not give you this entertainment license.

[Pablo Torre]

Yeah. One of the glories, it turns out, of sports federalism is local. It is the whole idea of the final. We're culminating this thing in New York, slash, New Jersey, which is a concept that has now been formalized in terms of signage.

[Adam Crafton]

Oh, this has been crazy. So even going back to the bid, I mean, if you're looking back 2017, 2018, that's when the US won the hosting bid. At that point, it was put forward as. And this was the order. New York, New Jersey. Do you say forward slash in the

[Pablo Torre]

U.S. uh, we've been invaded enough by you Brits that now we do.

[Adam Crafton]

I won't say anything else about invasions. So it was New York, New Jersey, and that that was how it was presented in the bid. That's what it's been for the last few years. But as the tensions have increased between FIFA, New Jersey, New York.

[Pablo Torre]

Right.

[Adam Crafton]

New Jersey is hosting four teams during the tournament as base camp. So Brazil, Morocco, Haiti and Senegal will all be training in New Jersey. And New Jersey's put a hell of a lot of money in. It's around over 300 million, according to local reporting. And that has created a sense of, well, why is New York's name first? So that has led to one of the more. Can I say, petty requests.

[Pablo Torre]

So one of the most New Jersey requests.

[Adam Crafton]

Right. One of the more New Jersey requests, they would say it's just representing what we've put in. But the sign on the stadium, because, remember, and we may get into this as well, the sign, the sponsor name, stadium. So the naming rights on the stadium are not allowed during the World Cup. So MetLife Stadium is not MetLife Stadium. During this tournament, it will say New York, New Jersey Stadium. And the signs have even been changed, physically changed. But there'll be two signs. And now on a request from the governor's office, one of them will say, New Jersey, New York Stadium. So these are just some of the little kind of vignettes, anecdotes that give a sense of the local and national dual challenge that FIFA have got, which

[Pablo Torre]

is to say that there are lots of local regional brands, identities, and they are not all thinking about this the same way.

[Adam Crafton]

Yeah, I think it depends a little bit who you speak to. However, the frustration has been mounting. There's a lot of disagreements. There's a lot of challenges that they've encountered, you know, some of the terms that I've heard used, terms like piggish to describe FIFA. Others have used terms like they're great negotiators and at times they've been better negotiators than their American counterparts. There is even a clause in that host city contract where I just want to read this, right? So, you know, includes a clause that host cities must coordinate with FIFA on any public announcement, statement and, or public and private press briefing relating to a World cup or a host. Silly. Now, most sillies have not coordinated with FIFA on private press briefings. I would say, given some of the conversations that I've had with them, I

[Pablo Torre]

was going to say, yeah, but it

[Adam Crafton]

does give a sense of the control they try and exert, right? And not only that they try and exert, but the control that the host cities themselves signed up to. And that is always worth remembering in this. You know, as much as FIFA may be cast as the kind of the bad guys in the room or, you know, being unfair, they signed the deal, right? Nobody had a gun to the head and forced them to sign this deal.

[Pablo Torre]

And this is why I'm so excited to do this episode and examine this folder of documents, because this is not FIFA saying with a weapon, sign this or else. This is how the American World cup gets made. And it's with consent or at the very least some understanding that this is all gonna be worth it.

[Adam Crafton]

But there's a hell of a lot in there that I think many of them now regret signing up to.

[Pablo Torre]

So I want to open this folder up because you and the Athletic fc, our colleagues there, you examine the accounting here. It does make sense to just explain. So American cities are agreeing to pay to foot the bill for the World Cup. And I get that with the Olympics, you know, like international governing body comes in town, cleans up, builds a new stadium. The stadium. Who the knows what happens to it? Tourists come, tourists go. It's sort of this ghost town, this like once, sort of like sports Pompeii kind of vibe. FIFA's model, though what they are selling is its own, is its own distinct package. How would you explain what's folded inside of it?

[Adam Crafton]

I think the easiest thing is to say the things that FIFA get, revenue wise and the things that the cities have to pay for. If you think about the things that FIFA will take the revenue from in terms of the big revenue levers of any major sporting event. So broadcasting, so that's your TV rights, sponsorship, so that's your Coca Cola, Qatar Airways, Lots of different Saudi entities. A lot of money in terms of that. Concessions in the stadium goes to FIFA. Parking the car park spaces, which in America I'm learning is a lot of money. Under FIFA, it's even more money. It's getting up to 200, $300 per parking space, per game and most of all the ticket prices. So all of the revenue from the tickets goes to FIFA. Maybe some hospitality, there's some joint ventures in there. Then think about what the cities not getting what they're paying for.

[Pablo Torre]

Right.

[Adam Crafton]

So cities are being expected to provide transportation initially that was meant to be free, it then became watered down to be at cost. So not supposed to be making any money on it essentially whatsoever. Even with the New Jersey Transit price. New Jersey Transit claim they won't make money on that $98 ticket.

[Rahm Emanuel]

More than $100 for a return trip from Penn Station to MetLife. If you're riding NJ Transit this summer, the 18 mile journey which takes a stop at Secaucus Junction, normally costs just under $13 to lower fares.

[Pablo Torre]

School buses are going to be used.

[Adam Crafton]

What else do cities carry the financial burden for? Safety, security protection, fire, police services, traffic support, medical services. But the thing about that to think about is this is not just around a venue because the footprint of FIFA during a World Cup. It's transit hubs, it's fan festivals, all of those areas of town that become more busy as a result of soccer fans and being being in the place for that four, five week period. So Times Square for example, I imagine is going to be full of soccer fans partying. That's going to need more police resources. And that means a lot of these police departments are going to be doing a lot of overtime, probably stopping their officers going on vacation so they can cope with the demands. And that all costs a lot of money, particularly in America. Airports as well, huge amount of.

[Pablo Torre]

Right. And on some level, like I get like security, very important, very expensive. But the reason I'm opening my folder here to this first massive file is that this is something that speaks to one of the terms that you mentioned, which is traffic support. And the notion of traffic support, it is turns out codified in the host city agreement I'm reading from the front page between Federation International, the football association, this is FIFA based in Switzerland. And not only the United States Soccer Federation, but the city of Seattle, parentheses, quote host city authority. And in this, how would you explain what gets detailed?

[Adam Crafton]

Pretty much everything is detailed. But I mean if, if we just take that example, I mean you talk

[Pablo Torre]

about like traffic Support the host city authority shall support police escorts for the ground transport of today, team delegation members and referees on match days.

[Adam Crafton]

Right. Nobody's going to argue with that. What people might argue with a little bit is the same should also be provided for the FIFA president, other VIP members of the FIFA delegation and further VVIP members identified by FIFA. Now, nobody can really tell me what is a VIP compared to a vvip.

[Pablo Torre]

I was gonna say VVIP is a level of V that I wasn't familiar. Familiar with.

[Adam Crafton]

And how offended would you be as a VIP when the vvips are getting

[Pablo Torre]

whatever they're getting, as offended as the state of New Jersey.

[Adam Crafton]

Right. I would imagine that's very offended, I would say, on that. I think there's probably an argument that the FIFA president has become so high profile that maybe, maybe you can make that he's the emperor, the emperor of the World cup, the king of soccer, Johnny. However, what the cities are now saying to me is these terms are very vague, right. What's to stop FIFA from saying there's 10,000 people who we consider to be VIPs. Who is a VIP? Are we just designating people who Johnny's woken up and decided, oh, he's very important, he needs a police escort? And it's not just the vip, it's also you've got these traffic lanes as well, these kind of express traffic lanes which may have to be shut off for these people. So the cities are now sort of coming to terms with some of these asks which are very, very expensive and just logistically difficult. Right, in some cities to create these, these lanes and these pathways.

[Pablo Torre]

One of the things that I've been fascinated by though is like, what has it been like for the head of a major American city to be approached by Johnny Infantino and his band of V and vvips who are demanding all this stuff when America, I would have imagined, isn't as desperate as countries that don't have the built in ego I would have imagined or resources, particularly on

[Adam Crafton]

the back of Qatar and Russia. So Qatar was a nation building project and Russia was, I guess, a nation furnishing project in some ways. And therefore these places really wanted this tournament they were desperate for was a real national event. Now, I'm not saying America doesn't want the World cup because I think many people in the States do want the World cup and will enjoy the World cup and the soccer will be fantastic and it'll all be great. However, they don't need it in the same way as some of These other places and. And even within the states themselves, like Kansas City maybe needs this tournament more than New York or LA or Miami. You then come up against cities who are saying, hang on, who do you think you are? And this was crystallized in a meeting that I was told about, which took place at Sofi Stadium, the stadium near Los Angeles in Inglewood. And this would have been when all the cities were doing their kind of pitches to FIFA and FIFA were pitching to them. And. And it would have been late 2021, and you had all the big sports leaders or representatives of the big sports teams in a room at Sofi Stadium, and you had FIFA executives, and FIFA was sending out, this is how it works. This is what we get. This is what you get. And then the head of the LA Sports Commission puts her hand up and says, sorry, can I just check? What exactly are we getting out of this? And the answer that she got was, essentially, this will put Los Angeles on the map. Right. And that's fascinating because it gives you an insight into how FIFA perceive themselves, that this is the biggest thing in the world and soccer is the biggest sport in the world.

[Pablo Torre]

Right, Absolutely.

[Adam Crafton]

And it does have a huge reach and a huge. There's a globality to it that enables these places to reach new things. But then I spoke to someone who was in the room for that meeting. They're saying, hang on, we're the place of the Oscars, the Grammys, the Emmys, of Hollywood, of the Dodgers, The Lakers, and FIFA are gonna put us on the map.

[Pablo Torre]

Yeah. I believe the quote in your article in the Athletic was, what did he just say?

[Adam Crafton]

I think that's it. It's that sense of, you know, we're star town. We don't need you guys. You need us. Or we need each other, but we don't owe you in the way that perhaps some of these other places that have been bidding for World Cups may have that sense.

[Pablo Torre]

And something we really prize on this show is, to whatever extent possible, getting an unvarnished accounting of ego. And so one of the people that you talk to is someone who I want to introduce to our audience, in case you weren't familiar with his line of work.

[Adam Crafton]

So I guess, first of all, if we just go back to the beginning

[Rahm Emanuel]

of Adam and Eve.

[Pablo Torre]

Yeah.

[Adam Crafton]

Of Adam and Eve. I'm Adam, you can be Eve, may

[Rahm Emanuel]

help me win the Democratic primary.

[Adam Crafton]

It may do. It may do. Maybe we can get on to that.

[Pablo Torre]

Rahm Emanuel, former US Congressman, White House chief of staff under Barack Obama, who is kind of unsubtly interested in potentially becoming the President of the United States in 2028. Also, most crucially here, the mayor of Chicago. From when to when?

[Adam Crafton]

From 2011 to 2019. So it would have been during the period in which cities were in conversations about potentially hosting the World Cup.

[Pablo Torre]

Right? And he has been, I would say, sports curious for a long time. Although his background is in ballet, which just gives an excuse to show this photo. But this is also the guy who got the NFL draft to leave New York, got the NHL draft to Chicago, got the NBA All Star Game. He very strategically wanted these big sporting events for his city.

[Rahm Emanuel]

I remember they said, well, this will be a great marketing for the city. I said, I don't need you for marketing. I just had the NFL draft. I said, I don't need you. I said, you think Chicago needs you for marketing? I said, not happening. And I can't monetize marketing. You're taking cash and I get a marketing dollar of some intrinsic value. I said, I don't know who you talk to, who you negotiate with, but I said, I'm not doing that. I'm not like the smartest businessman. I said, but I've passed 8th grade math and the numbers don't work.

[Pablo Torre]

I should clarify that. We here at Pablo Torre Finds Out a podcast supported by advertising. Loves marketing. We love it. But if you're the guy leading Chicago and you're getting this sales pitch and you're saying we need something more concrete than the promise of brand value, it feels like that would be a hard sticking point.

[Adam Crafton]

And it wasn't just what he just said there about marketing. I mean, he goes on to explain, there was lots of other challenges that Chicago had when they were looking at the deal. It involved potential commitments to what is described in FIFA's contracts as stadium overlay and kind of FIFA reserving the right to ask for adjustments or modifications to the stadium. But what he says they asked for was something pretty unique and. And pretty hard to imagine what is a historic venue, which is Soldier Field.

[Rahm Emanuel]

And I was trying to work my way to a yes, because I too, was lured by this is one of the biggest events in the world, a sporting event. It would be a big thing for the city. Then they said in the contract that they had the right to request a dome being built over Soldier Field. And I said, well, I'm not gonna. I said, you gotta take that out. They go, well, we never exercise it, but it's something we ask everybody. I said, I don't care if you've never Exercised. There will always be a first. Take it out, and we can work through the other issues. And they said, we can't take it out. I said, if you're not taking this out, that was kind of like the straw that broke the camel's back. I said, you can't have something in there that leaves the city and the taxpayers exposed. So I just said, no. I said, if it's not out, we're out.

[Pablo Torre]

What's so interesting is that for Rahm Emanuel, this was a line that he cannot cross. And I get it. Like, putting a hat on Soldier Field is crazy. But at the same time, other cities, they're letting FIFA play around with their buildings. The NFL is giving way to soccer in ways that are comically tangible. There is this concept that we find as we get to page 126 in this, again, the host agreement, that case study that we have in this folder, we have this thing called the clean stadium obligation. Can you explain, Adam, what this means?

[Adam Crafton]

Yes, the clean stadium obligation. Well, this is a great one because this is something which I think is. It's pretty common with kind of mega sporting events, actually, but I don't think it's very common in America. And it sounds a bit insane, I think, to Americans, this is basically the idea that all of these stadiums around the country with we know them for the sponsor name. So in Atlanta, it's Mercedes Benz Stadium, it's SoFi Stadium. In LA, it's MetLife AT&T Stadium. In Dallas. Yes, you get the gist.

[Pablo Torre]

And there are a few things more American than just internalizing corporate branding. This is exactly the thing we also love completely.

[Adam Crafton]

I mean, I guess one of them that wouldn't have been is Soldier Field.

[Pablo Torre]

Yeah.

[Adam Crafton]

You know, that doesn't have a sponsor name. However, when FIFA take over these stadiums, you have to wipe all of this branding from all official communications even. I mean, this is an extraordinary thing. I don't know if the cities have actually done this because it sounds too insane to do. From 14 days prior to the start of the first game, for each city, you have to get the directional signage in a place to be the. The new stadium name. So in. In what would ordinarily be a sign that says towards MetLife Stadium, it has to now say New York New Jersey Stadium or New Jersey New York. Right. I mean, God knows what they're going to do there. But that. That just gives an impression. And the host city has even signed up to say that they will basically do their utmost to ensure that official government communications about a Stadium will use the FIFA name rather than the standard name.

[Pablo Torre]

This is FIFA saying, when the World cup is happening in America, we are a universe. That is consistent across this legal language.

[Adam Crafton]

Yeah.

[Pablo Torre]

The stadium authority shall make any room, area, building, facility or section belonging to the stadium available for the competition according to the above requirements, which, for the avoidance of doubt, includes the entire premises. These requirements include no advertising, signage, or other commercial identification of any kind on any stand, scoreboard, seats, seatbacks, time clocks, staff uniforms, accreditation passes, fences, or elsewhere, inside, surrounding, or in the airspace above and around the stadium other than that which is installed by or direction of FIFA.

[Adam Crafton]

I mean, airspace above and around the stadium. I mean, I'm not sure what would be in the airspace.

[Pablo Torre]

In any case, try and fly a plane.

[Adam Crafton]

Right.

[Pablo Torre]

And we can even watch Kansas City remove the name of typically what is known as Geha Field at Arrowhead Stadium, where the Chiefs play. Here is a crane taking away the A. The last.

[Adam Crafton]

I mean, it's just when you watch that, it just feels like it's sort of a satire documentary, right? Of some sort.

[Pablo Torre]

I was hoping they would just have it as a field.

[Adam Crafton]

Right?

[Pablo Torre]

It is a field. Here it is. It's what you wanted.

[Adam Crafton]

And it then became even more controversial because one city got an exemption and this was Atlanta, Mercedes Benz Stadium. And that's because the position of the stadium made it simply physically too hard to cover up. I mean, they did all the recce and checks to see if it would be possible, and the conclusion was they actually couldn't fix this without doing damage or costing a completely absurd amount of money. However, the other cities didn't know about this until it was reported by my colleague, Henry Bushnell. And then I started getting calls from some cities saying, well, if they're not doing it, we're not doing good.

[Pablo Torre]

I just think that as a solutions oriented podcast, we could have been helpful in pointing out that you just draw one more line on the Mercedes Benz insignia, which is on the hood of this stadium, and, you know, suddenly you have a peace symbol, Adam. Just a little graffiti.

[Adam Crafton]

FIFA, of course, have done a partnership with Trump's Board of Peace. So it could have been.

[Pablo Torre]

We could have made money. We all could have made money on this.

[Adam Crafton]

We don't make money from peace, do we? We would never do that.

[Pablo Torre]

Never, never, never, never. So just from the level of control, I'm just thinking of like now putting all the characters in the same room together. I'm thinking of Rahm Emanuel. I'm thinking of Johnny Infantino at a table. And what that Powwow might have sounded like.

[Rahm Emanuel]

I said, I don't know what any other mayor or governor is doing, but you expect me to treat the Chicago taxpayers as the dumb money at the table? You gotta be kidding me. I said, I'm not giving you taxpayer money. The taxpayers are going to be on the line for 100% of the risk. I said, I'm not signing that. And I was supposed to pay for 100% of what they wanted. I didn't even do that on my first date with my wife with one

[Adam Crafton]

of the things we saw other states.

[Rahm Emanuel]

Hey, can you take that out? No, I'm joking. Wait until she finds out that we didn't go.

[Pablo Torre]

So, Rahm, in the end, Chicago, really, in the end, they said no.

[Adam Crafton]

They said no in the end. They had the reservations over the sponsorships, the stadium issue with the Dome, about dropping sales tax on ticket admissions, and it all basically led the city of Chicago with the impression that they would be left in debt, that they would lose money by doing this. So they said no. But the way they said no was actually quite fun and mischievous because FIFA had said to them, you know, when they'd sent over documents, they said, we don't want any red lines. We just want the signed version.

[Pablo Torre]

Of course, we're not negotiating. Just. Here it is.

[Adam Crafton]

So what did Chicago do? They signed it. No blemishes, no red lines, but they put an asterisk underneath, and it listed out all of their concerns, knowing that FIFA would never agree to those terms. So technically, Chicago did sign the documents and didn't withdraw, per se, because I guess FIFA would have been the final party in that to say no. But they presented it in such a mischievous and complex way that it was never going to be accepted.

[Pablo Torre]

Right? Which is to say that Chicago, in the end, said, we'll play by your rules, but also go yourself.

[Adam Crafton]

I'll let you say that. And I should say, FIFA declines comment on all of that.

[Pablo Torre]

Very good. Hello, it's me, Pablo. We have been very interested in what you guys actually like about this show. And so in the show notes, there is a survey. You'll find it magically as a link somewhere down there.

[Donald Trump]

And.

[Pablo Torre]

And you can tell us what you want more of what you want, less of what annoys you about me and potentially all of my friends. We will use this to improve the show. Takes, like 30 seconds, so please fill it out and we will make this better. Allegedly. You know how summer kind of forces you to simplify your wardrobe? Like, I've noticed that once it gets Hot out. I stop caring about complicated outfits. And I just want clothes that are comfortable, breathable, and still look good if I am running around all day. And that is exactly why I've been wearing a lot more quints lately. Their linen stuff, for instance, has become a real go to for me, especially the European linen shirts they have. They're lightweight, they breathe really well. Somehow they still make you look like you put effort into getting dressed. And the crazy part is that their linen pants and shirts start at just 34 bucks. Plus the tees are ridiculously soft and their lightweight cotton sweaters are perfect for when it cools off at night. It's just stuff that's easy to wear, but it is also a great price point. Quint keeps prices 50 to 80% lower than similar brands because they work directly with ethical factories and cut out the middlemen. So you're paying for the quality itself, not a giant markup. And once you get on the site, you realize they do way more than clothes. They do premium bedding, ceramic cookware, and even custom upholstered sofas. It's one of those brands that you end up recommending to everyone for pretty much everything. So this year, elevate your summer wardrobe by going to quints.com Pablo for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns. Now available in Canada as well. That's Q-U-N-C-E.com Pablo for free shipping and 365 day returns. Quince.com Pablo

[Jonathan Fields]

hi, this is Jonathan Fields, host of the Good Life Project. What if your home could welcome you at the door, energize your kitchen and calm your bedroom all automatically? With Pura's family of smart diffusers, you can send every space perfectly, choose premium clean fragrances, adjust the intensity and set schedules right from your phone. It's whole home scenting designed for the way you live. Build your Pura system [e-mail] Wholehome.

[Pablo Torre]

I want to turn us to Dallas because Dallas, I mean, in the NFL and American sports, this is the biggest thing. Jerry Jones, the Cowboys, all of that. But what FIFA is getting from this city is pretty remarkable.

[Adam Crafton]

Adam yeah, so when FIFA go to a place they need, and not unreasonably, they need what they call their kind of international broadcast center. So that's where your sort of your tv, your radio, your digital media will spend a lot of time. And that venue, it's like a 247 access for thousands of people during that time. But who do you think paid for it? After all the conversation we've had, who do you think might have paid for it?

[Pablo Torre]

Who paid for a 500,000 square foot Command Media center? I'm going to guess the City of Dallas.

[Adam Crafton]

Wow, you're getting good at this, right? You're starting to catch up.

[Pablo Torre]

I'm an investigative reporter.

[Adam Crafton]

Right. Tell me about it.

[Pablo Torre]

With a document that now can helpfully point out that on August 15, 2025, this is a city of Dallas insignia, piece of paper, memorandum across the top two. Honorable Mayor and members of the City Council International Broadcast Center. IBC will serve as the hub of television, radio and digital coverage for the tournament from January 14 to August 24, 2026. The venue will operate under FIFA's exclusive control, providing 24. 7 access for thousands of international journalists and technical staff. The city council and city leadership have committed to capital improvements, including roof repairs, drainage enhancements, climate control upgrades and infrastructure modifications to meet FIFA's technical and operational requirements. And investment capped at $15 million, which

[Adam Crafton]

everyone will be relieved that it's only $15 million. Right?

[Pablo Torre]

I'm glad it's capped at 15 million. I was worried, man. Can we at least keep it below $15 million in public money? And FIFA itself invested how much of

[Adam Crafton]

this FIFA did not front, as far as I know, any of this. So it's pretty remarkable, really. And I mean, the best bit is what do you think happens to this after the World cup? This thing that's being constructed for a cap of $15 million.

[Pablo Torre]

I am hoping it becomes some sort of mall, some sort of some beautiful

[Adam Crafton]

community center somewhere where people can come together. Exactly.

[Pablo Torre]

A sculpture that lets us remember the friends we made along the way.

[Adam Crafton]

No, it's getting knocked down.

[Pablo Torre]

Perfect.

[Adam Crafton]

So that's that, really. I'm not sure what more we can kind of add to it, but you

[Pablo Torre]

spin around the map here and the wrecking ball of FIFA coming for the things that they are demanding to be constructed. I do want to go to the Midwest now because Kansas City, they've got to be the smallest of the 11

[Adam Crafton]

host cities, I think population wise. Yeah. Around just over 2 million.

[Pablo Torre]

Maybe a proud soccer legacy.

[Adam Crafton]

Proud soccer legacy. They sort of call themselves the soccer capital. They do have kind of an MLS team. They have a Kansas City current, don't they, as well, in the nwsl. They built a fantastic stadium actually in Kansas City for the women's team. I think it was the first women's specific facility that was built. And they also appear to have fantastic training facilities because Argentina, which is the current holders of the men's World Cup. England, who are not the current holders of the Men's World cup, but maybe the future wins one day.

[Pablo Torre]

It's coming home eventually.

[Adam Crafton]

It's coming home eventually. It's just on a long go, like me. It's on a longer.

[Pablo Torre]

Yeah, just on loan.

[Adam Crafton]

On loan to every other nation in the world, seemingly. So. Argentina, England, the Netherlands and Algeria will all be using Kansas City as their base.

[Pablo Torre]

But nonetheless, amid these six games, Kansas City, Kansas City Stadium, excuse me, is hosting. You know, they might get the quarterfinal. They might get Messi and Ronaldo. This is. I get it.

[Adam Crafton]

Should jump on that, because this could be actually one of the. The most extraordinary World cup games ever. Messi and Ronaldo have never played each other at a World cup, and this will be their last World Cup. I mean, to be fair, he's like Ronaldo just refuses to retire, so who knows? But you.

[Pablo Torre]

He might be seeking yet another term as well.

[Adam Crafton]

Yes, absolutely. Like Gianni and potentially someone else. Yes. But we think he'll be the last one. It'd be the first time they've ever played each other. It relies on both teams winning their groups and getting through to the quarterfinal. But if they do. So the roots, the brackets, which Americans love.

[Pablo Torre]

I'm told a bracket of bracketology means

[Adam Crafton]

that they would meet in Kansas City, which is an absurd kind of idea. Right. That these kind of two gladiators of soccer would eventually meet in Kansas City. So that would be an amazing game.

[Pablo Torre]

And so what did the public pay for the possibility, the privilege of hosting such matches?

[Adam Crafton]

Well, I mean, this is just what is public and just what the host, Chamilla, said to us. So this doesn't include private donors, which would also be a very big number, I would imagine. So 42.5 million from the state of Missouri. Because Kansas City is in Missouri.

[Pablo Torre]

That's right.

[Adam Crafton]

Which is not easy to understand.

[Pablo Torre]

There is a Kansas, which is separate.

[Adam Crafton]

Yeah. But then the state of Kansas has also given $28 million, 14.8 million from Kansas City itself, and another 1.5 million from other public sources. So that brings us to 86, almost 87 million public investment just from the state of Missouri. The state of Kansas, Kansas City. Then there's also 60 ish million from federal security assistance, which was signed off by the Trump administration, and also 13.3 million in federal grants towards transportation costs. So we're coming in there at least 175 million. Ish. That's just what's being disclosed at this point.

[Pablo Torre]

That's a lot, right?

[Adam Crafton]

That's A lot of money.

[Pablo Torre]

650,000 visitors is what the tourist board of the region visit kc that's what they're saying.

[Adam Crafton]

But I should say, just to interrupt, on that visit, KC have said 650,000 visitors. But actually, I think 80% of hotels who were surveyed recently by the hotel association were saying they are seeing lower than expected bookings. So there is a lot of skepticism at the moment in Kansas City that they will hit that target.

[Pablo Torre]

But speaking of accommodations, there is a particular big ticket item funded by taxpayers in Kansas City that again, required a bit of a pop up construction here. Adam.

[Adam Crafton]

Yeah, I mean, this is. Of all the stories, I think, in the lead up to the World cup, this is one of the more bizarre ones, a modular jail. So it feels to me a bit pop up y in that sense. Did you know that Kansas City has not had a jail since about 2009? And does that surprise you?

[Pablo Torre]

It is surprising because we live in America.

[Adam Crafton]

Right. I was gonna say if something America I thought could do, I thought it would be a city with jail.

[Pablo Torre]

Yeah, we do incarceration.

[Adam Crafton]

Right. So they've not had a jail since 2009. That has been sort of something that's been spoken about in the city for a while. There's been some pressure from local businesses. Now some of the city council members started to get the feeling of, well, we're gonna have a World cup and we could have 650,000 visitors. And some of those smaller petty crimes could really start to ramp up because what they do at the moment is transport people over 50 miles out of town to jails in kind of neighbouring places. So they said we need a jail. And they said we need a jail quickly because we might need it during the World Cup.

[Pablo Torre]

There could be a streaker, there could be, who knows, a guy in a wolf costume could turn into a bank robber again.

[Adam Crafton]

Yeah. And I think it was maybe based on perceptions of soccer fans that some people would argue are fair and accurate, that other people would say are typecast and a little bit outdated.

[Pablo Torre]

Yeah. Despite your accent, hooliganism is known to us here.

[Adam Crafton]

Right. Well, you've not seen my hooliganism yet. Right.

[Pablo Torre]

There's still time left in the show,

[Adam Crafton]

so there could have been issues whether it's, you know, people consume a lot of alcohol, if there's games between, I don't know, I don't think Brazil and Argentina would play in Kansas City against each other. But, you know, where there's rivalry games,

[Pablo Torre]

where there's blood feuds, geopolitical conflicts, Coming home to roost inside of a field.

[Adam Crafton]

Exactly. Or even in the broader city fan zones, et cetera. So they said we need this temporary jail before we can build our long planned bigger jail. So $22 million was committed to building this and then a further 3.8 million was signed off in January with the aim of trying to ensure the construction of this jail which would have had I think just over 100 beds or so ahead of the World cup.

[Pablo Torre]

This is now 25.8 in totality. Who pays for that?

[Adam Crafton]

The funding comes from something called the public safety sales tax, which is essentially quarter cent sales tax. From what I can see, that's around 24 million that that brings in a year. So this is essentially over the years budget in order to do that, I should say. There was also a city council meeting in March at City hall in Kansas City of the Transportation Infrastructure and Operations Committee.

[Roxana Reyes]

Good morning committee and chair. I'm Roxana Reyes, a city architect with general services. Just going to go over a brief construction update on the Front Street Detention center, formerly known as the temporary facility.

[Adam Crafton]

And the city architect gave a construction update in which she provided some of the images for this jail are able to see.

[Roxana Reyes]

That feels like I center. It's a big building. It's 200 by 250ft. That's just what those pre engineer metal buildings look like right there. That little bump out is the sally port. That's where vehicles will drive in, drop off and then drive out. No windows.

[Pablo Torre]

And in case you thought you heard a city councilwoman say it looks like an ice detention center, like whispering it. You are correct, she did say that. And it does look like that. Adam, as we see also the observation at the end, no windows.

[Adam Crafton]

Yeah. And I should say, I mean. Melissa Robinson, Good morning.

[Pablo Torre]

Melissa Robinson, our district vice chair who

[Adam Crafton]

is the council member who said that actually voted to approve the project. So this was silly. Council members, I guess seeing the fruits of what they had voted for.

[Pablo Torre]

This is like the worst episode of House Hunters. It looks like a nice detention center. Yeah, we love it.

[Adam Crafton]

It's like what have we done here?

[Pablo Torre]

It's a storage unit. It looks like a warehouse. I mean it is functionally a warehouse. The kind that you retrofit into a detention center.

[Adam Crafton]

Right. And I think the architects subsequently said that kind of skylights would be cut in to the building somewhere to give some natural light. But yeah, not, not great. Yeah.

[Pablo Torre]

And look, as, as, as much as I can follow the logic, the part that jumps out to me is that this is Public money going towards the construction of this modular jail that is being built by a private contractor whose previous work is also worth noting here.

[Adam Crafton]

Why? Why is it worth noting, Pablo?

[Pablo Torre]

Well, because the company's name is KBR and you may know them from previous detainee facilities such as the one at Guantanamo Bay, which is again, just like great. Glad we got the Guantanamo Bay guys in Kansas City. I'm glad the World cup has brought us all together in this global village. And just the construction, the completion date of this it said May of 26.

[Adam Crafton]

This is the catch of the whole thing. The World cup jail is not ready for the World Cup. So the anticipated completion date of May 2026, it's not ready. A spokesperson for the city manager's office told me detainees will now not be housed at the centre during the World cup at all. They kind of said it is ready, but it's not operational. So that to me would suggest it's not ready. They blamed the manufacturer, delivery schedule, staffing delays. And while they said, and this is a quote, the World cup was referenced in the ordinance and legislative process as part of the timing and urgency around the project. The purpose of the facility is broader than the World Cup.

[Pablo Torre]

We were always trying to do this pop up jail in anticipation of the full time prison. And this is just multiple birds, one single soccer ball shaped stove. You know what's funny? We spend all this time talking about resumes and credentials and experience, but according to cnbc, nearly half of hiring managers say the most important thing they look for is enthusiasm. Like, does this person actually want this job? Because after all, you can teach skills, but you can't teach energy and excitement? Well, if you need a hire for your business, how can you separate the candidates who are really excited about your opportunity from the ones that are just kind of meh? The answer is ZipRecruiter. ZipRecruiter has a new feature that quickly lets you see the most interested qualified candidates first so you meet the right people faster. Plus, candidates can actually tell you in their own words why they're interested in your job. You're not just scanning resumes, you're hearing real motivation. And with ZipRecruiter's smart matching technology, qualified candidates are connected to your job fast. And now you can try it for [e-mail] PTFO so if you're hiring this summer, make sure to use ZipRecruiter and find enthusiastic talent fast. Four out of five employers who post on ZipRecruiter get a quality candidate within the first day. And now you can try it for free at ZipRecruiter.com PTFO that ZipRecruiter.com PTfo meet your match on ZipRecruiter. I want to apologize to our audience because we are making you do some basic math here. These are big numbers. Trying to track them, trying to see what is the cost, what is the benefit. And this brings us to the thing I gotta illustrate before we let everyone go here, before we free you from our private prison, the studio, because Johnny Infantino at The start promised $30 billion. And people have been complaining about ticket prices. And now it seems there was this solution. FIFA was going to do something quite generous for the public, actually, because they

[Adam Crafton]

agreed to waive, what, sales taxes on tickets. Now, this was kind of part of the bid expectations from FIFA that sales tax on tickets would not be applied. And many of the states actually push back on this. New Jersey is continuing to apply sales tax on tickets. Pennsylvania is. But three states agreed to do it. Such was their, I guess, desperation or eagerness to secure the World Cup. So the state of Georgia, which is Atlanta, the state of Florida, Miami, and the state of Missouri, once again, our friends in Kansas City, who are putting so much in to this tournament. And that sales tax, when you combine what has been left on the table by cities through waving, particularly now that the ticket prices are a lot higher than anyone thought they were going to be, right? It combines to almost $60 million.

[Pablo Torre]

Yeah. The sales tax for Missouri was going to be 8.85%, which, you know, again, the way tax works, cost customers money, make it more expensive, but provide something back for the cities and therefore the public in terms of what the state had available to make back in terms of those costs and benefits.

[Adam Crafton]

That's why people do it, because it's, it's almost a way of getting a slice of the revenue. And what's really interesting about this is if we just take that Missouri one.

[Pablo Torre]

Yeah. Let's focus on just one case study here.

[Adam Crafton]

They did a fiscal analysis before this was approved, which you attached to the bill, the fiscal note. And it was done by the Committee on Legislative Research in Missouri's oversight division. And they made some presumptions. Now, their presumptions were actually based on. Well, they said they were based on the last World cup in Qatar in 2022. The reality is, and they actually made a mistake, they were based on the 2018 World cup in Russia. So their presumption.

[Pablo Torre]

Wait, I'm sorry, I just assumed that they had One job here, which was, can you just calculate this? And their calculation, you're saying was wrong?

[Adam Crafton]

Well, it was impossible to know. Should say that. Right? Like you can't know in 2022 what FIFA are going to set as the prices in 2026. That's where we should give some grace.

[Pablo Torre]

Sure.

[Adam Crafton]

However, they used numbers from 2018, so

[Pablo Torre]

which is not 2022, which is not. So no scoring at all.

[Adam Crafton]

No.

[Pablo Torre]

And so what is the gap between what Missouri thought it was giving up versus what it was actually giving up by waiving taxes on ticket sales?

[Adam Crafton]

I guess a couple of things we should clarify. Firstly, when they were making these calculations, the actual number of games hadn't yet been. They didn't know how many games they would get or which games they would get. Now, what they did was because if you would just apply their methodology of using 2018 prices to the actual games they were given, it would have come out at basically leaving $5.9 million on the table, however, of the actual prices. And what we did was take an average of all of FIFA's ticket drops, which have been many. It comes out as 15.7 million compared to that 5.9 million. So that is a huge gap, really, in terms of what the expectation was and a lot of money, really, that could have gone into a mixture of the state and local taxes based on admissions for the people of Missouri and Kansas City.

[Pablo Torre]

And by the way, just to clarify, like, that is a conservative estimate. You're being very responsible because hospitality pricing ticket, the secondary market ticket resales, where FIFA is taking 15% from the buyer and the seller. That's not even incorporated into the.

[Adam Crafton]

Yeah, so we were kind. We were really kind to these states because we don't. What you never want to do in this case is grossly overestimate. And then they come back at you and say, this is irresponsible.

[Pablo Torre]

I say gross overestimation is the thing we're all trying to avoid equally.

[Adam Crafton]

We don't know at this stage if FIFA, we've presumed that FIFA are going to sell out. And there are some questions at this point as whether these stadiums will actually sell out, such as being the price point and some of the chaos that's been surrounding ticket sales.

[Pablo Torre]

So all of this is to say that FIFA, in response to your reporting, in response to this folder full of documents, what do they say?

[Adam Crafton]

They've not really replied for this collection of stories, so that's that. I guess they would say that, you know, they commit money through the 3.7 billion that they spend on the World Cup. But obviously a big amount of that is basically prize money for players and federations. And as I said at the start, nobody forced a city to apply for this. Nobody forced a city to agree to these terms.

[Pablo Torre]

And so there is one last document in your folder, which I want to read from, because this one acknowledges a bunch of what you just said in writing, and this One is dated November 17, 2025. It's to the CEO of the US Soccer Federation. And I just want to read through what some of this says, because it's signed by, yeah, a bunch of US Host cities, seven actual World Cup Men's World cup host cities for this summer, and then 21 potential US host cities for the 2031 Women's World cup, which is very interesting because what this whole document, the highlighted part we want to read here is suggesting is that, quote, as you are aware, many US Host cities are currently working through significant operational, financial, and contractual challenges stemming from the terms of the existing FIFA World Cup 26 hosting arrangements. And so this acknowledges the complexity and the frustration that has been conveyed through numbers and through your reporting. And what was the response when U.S. soccer received this letter?

[Adam Crafton]

Well, the great thing about this is they didn't send the letter. They did not send the letter. They got it. They all of these cities.

[Pablo Torre]

Why was it never sent?

[Adam Crafton]

All of these cities came together in November because what FIFA wanted was to start getting agreements signed for the 2031 World cup before the 26 World cup had even started. But to see it written down by the cities and signed by all of these city representatives. So all that stuff we've been talking about, naming rights on stadiums, local taxes, all of those topics.

[Pablo Torre]

They say that we are firmly committed to delivering a successful FIFA Women's World cup of the United States, one that is financially responsible, operationally feasible, and positioned to create lasting legacy benefits. I mean, it's acknowledging the very thing that, of course, seems far harder to accomplish.

[Adam Crafton]

Yeah. And the reason they didn't send it is because I subsequently saw some correspondence between the cities which basically said it was for PR reasons. They were worried that the letter would get out. And of course the letter would never get out, would it? Pablo?

[Pablo Torre]

This is, I should say, not only a great exhibit in journalism, but it is also a great exhibit in what it means to be American. Adam Crafton. And if you want to stick around here on behalf of America, and also, and I will demand this, New York, sl, New Jersey. I, I, I, I do think I also should probably apologize on some level, because this has been probably all harder than it than it should have been.

[Adam Crafton]

Thank you for having me. Appreciate it.

[Pablo Torre]

This has been Pablo Torre Finds Out a Meadowlark Media production and I'll talk to you next time.

[Rahm Emanuel]

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