In the high-stakes race to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup final, Dallas is leaning into what it sees as an unrivaled advantage: unprecedented scale for the event.

Dan Hunt, co-owner of MLS’ FC Dallas and chairman of Dallas’ World Cup host city bid, told The U.S. Sun that he envisions a ticketed event encompassing 200,000 people across the entire Arlington, Texas, sports complex. 

The Dallas Cowboys’ AT&T Stadium, the bidding venue for the final itself, has a standard capacity of 80,000 that can be expanded to about 100,000. The neighboring Globe Life Field, home of MLB’s Texas Rangers, seats 40,300 more, while the Rangers’ former home, Choctaw Stadium, seats another 48,114.

Those latter two stadiums would be used in a match simulcast setting using their jumbotrons or in some other type of fan event.

“One of my big pitches to FIFA is, if we get the final, we can do something that nobody else can do, which is maybe a ticketed event of up to 200,000 people,” Hunt said. “The Rangers are all in on this. They’ve been very committed to making this happen.”

A decision on the location of the final is expected by the end of the year. Dallas and New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium are said to be the two leading candidates. Los Angeles’ SoFi Stadium, one thought to be another major candidate for the final, could lose out on hosting any World Cup matches amid ongoing revenue-sharing and facility issues. 

The U.S. is co-hosting the 2026 World Cup with Mexico and Canada.

Year One of Lionel Messi’s MLS adventure is now over, ending much more quietly than it began and leaving big questions ahead for both Inter Miami and the Argentinian superstar.

Messi and Inter Miami ended their 2023 regular season on Saturday in Charlotte, losing 1-0. After a furious beginning to Messi’s U.S. professional play that included a Leagues Cup championship, a 12-match unbeaten run, and elevated attendance, MLS Season Pass subscriptions, and merchandise sales across the league, Inter Miami finished winless in its final six league matches, and well out of a playoff spot, while Messi himself battled nagging leg injuries and missed several games.

“The team was exhausted. That’s no excuse. That’s the reality,” said Inter Miami coach Gerardo “Tata” Martino.

The club will make its first-ever foreign tour next month, playing two exhibition matches in China, and Messi is expected to be part of that.

But looking ahead to next season, concerns are growing around what was initially a purely joyous situation regarding Messi. The superstar will turn 37 next season, and it remains unclear whether Messi will be able to handle the full rigors of another long season. 

“We have to be very precise over the next few months about how we will approach next season,” Martino said.

Inter Miami is also racing to finish its new $1 billion stadium project by 2025, the final year of Messi’s contract with the club. Messi earns a reported $135 million annually in total on- and off-field earnings that includes a variety of unique contractual elements, including team equity options and MLS Season Pass revenue sharing.

A new market reality in U.S. online gambling is emerging as DraftKings has overtaken incumbent leader FanDuel for the overall market share lead, suggesting more change to come in the still-developing market. 

In August, DraftKings took the U.S. online gambling lead, according to a new study by prominent research entity Eilers & Krejcik Gaming, capturing 31% of overall gross gaming revenue compared to FanDuel’s 30%. FanDuel had been the clear American market leader for several years.

The figure includes revenue from both sports betting and other online casino games. For sports betting specifically, FanDuel still has a 39.3% market share lead compared to DraftKings’ 34.1%. But the leadership flip in overall gaming revenue marks a key inflection point in the still-developing U.S. wagering market. 

“[This] is a major move that signals a shifting competitive landscape — one that we believe will continue to shift as big new brands Fanatics and ESPN Bet begin to ramp,” Eilers & Krejcik said.

To that end, ESPN Bet is set for a November debut of its new Sportsbook in partnership with PENN Entertainment, while Fanatics is continuing to integrate its recently acquired PointsBet assets.

Company Escalation

Those two entities represent perhaps the greatest threat yet to the established DraftKings-FanDuel market duopoly, but DraftKings said it is not planning to yield its leadership position. 

“We enjoy the chart, but no one is anywhere close to satisfied yet at DraftKings!,” DraftKings co-founder Matt Kalish posted on X. 

The company plans to release its next set of financial results on Nov. 2, and its stock has risen more than 144% this year, fueled in part by the market share gains and a reining in of its much-debated marketing and customer-acquisition costs.

“DraftKings’ ability to reel in FanDuel speaks to a company that is stepping away from squishy narratives and harnessing the power of more focused, disciplined execution,” Eilers & Krejcik said.

The accelerating growth wave for the NWSL — one mirroring a similar path in the WNBA — has been boosted further by a set of major new deals for the league.

The Kansas City Current have completed a 10-year stadium naming rights agreement with Kansas City-based rail company CPKC. The $117 million CPKC Stadium, set to open next year, will be the country’s first to be built specifically for a women’s pro soccer team. 

Financial terms were not disclosed, but team officials called the deal a transformational moment for the franchise and league overall.

“This is a revolutionary investment from CKPC into women’s sports and significant commitment to the Kansas City community,” said Angie Long, Current founder and co-owner. 

Media Anticipation

Expectations, meanwhile, remain historically large for an anticipated set of media rights deals for the NWSL with ESPN, CBS, Amazon, and Scripps Sports. 

Projected to be completed in the coming weeks, the deals will increase the league’s national TV revenue by at least a factor of 10, and will significantly expand the NWSL’s presence across network, cable, and local television, and digitally.

“I think this is a big one,” said Julie Foudy, former U.S. women’s national team star and an Angel City FC co-owner, to Forbes. “This is a big one because it’s going to set the standard, not just for soccer, but for other leagues as well. Soccer is great in that we can be the standard bearers for a lot of things in women’s sports, similar to what Billie Jean [King] did in women’s tennis. There’s a lot of different sports looking at us and saying, ‘OK, what’s going to happen here?'”

The media and sponsorship activity for the NWSL run parallel to a wave of expansion for the league.