Unfilled rooms

The World Cup

We are concluding our annual swing through the Midwest, seeing friends of decades’s duration. As each of us faces the realities of aging, it has been a rewarding, if bittersweet few days. The lesson I embrace is what my grandmother, a tough woman who weathered life’s vicissitudes to age 97, opined: we have the joy of one day at a time—no more , no less. I wish it hadn’t taken me so long to believe her but I understand now.

The average Melanie and Micah often whine that the Beltway types don’t consider the rest of the country, particularly the “fly over” part. I am a Midwesterner by birth, fiercely annoyed when I hear that sort of dismissing tone while recognizing I have spent the overwhelming majority of my life elsewhere—thus have probably engaged in such conversation without realizing it.

Right now, a definite disconnect between Washington and the rest of the country is appearing in a costly manner. Actions and consequences in this case won’t create a global catastrophe but it may deepen the divide plaguing us.

As one exits the Kansas City airport terminal, a flashy digital clock counts down to the opening of the World Cup (the “mundial” as Colombian radio called it in the 60s and 70s) with this Midwestern locality hosting some of the fixtures. Kansas City’s moment in soccer’s sun begins in 35 days.

Snagging some of the action was a big deal for this city. Sure, the Chiefs ruled for a couple of years and are still a fine team but as any long-time fan knows, teams in this town have self-destructed with amazing rapidity over the decades. That is IF the fan base keeps the teams here, I should add, as hockey”# repeated failures showed mercilessly decades ago when the 1974 NHL expansion Scouts could not survive (but are thriving as the. Colorado Rockies where they moved ages ago) nor did even minor league teams.

It is not that locals don’t like sports but this metro area is not comparable to the Bay Area, the Los Angeles basin, or the Atlanta behemoth with huge populations. Kansas City’s twin towns (KCK for Kansas City, Kansas and KCMO for the Missouri side are decidedly different communities) and overall metro area do have an aggregate population of 1.7 million but that somehow doesn’t equate to everyone liking the same sports or to outsiders grasping how diverse the community actually is.

Still, the World Cup, Yanks, is a BIG DEAL so KC made the map. The global interest in this month-long series of skilled displays exceeds our Super Bowl mania by many millions, if not billions of people. Many Americans forget it took Henry the K (Kissinger, if you no longer recall) lobbying for us to get the Cup the first time years back.

President Trump has proudly repeated his role in bringing the Cup this summer, although he is better known as a golf or U.S. football fan. He has sold the Cup’s virtues to potential fans and visitors near and far.

But, two little matters seem to be dissuading folks from booking hotels in conjunction Kansas City’s fixtures. One is ICE activity and the other is escalating fuel costs.

The Administration assures us that mass deportations will occur in the United States. Just yesterday, Border guru Thomas Homan told an audience, according to Heather Cox Richardson’s column, that we “ain’t seen nothing yet”. Anti-immigrant advocate Stephen Miller retains a role in the White House with avowed advocacy of deporting immigrants.

I know that immigrants do not equate to foreign visitors for the World Cup but seemingly those outside this country are not sure we are making that distinction. Much of the rest of the world doesn’t believe we really mean illegal immigrants will face deportation but actually intend to corral foreigners. Who wants to get caught in that? I know U.S.-born Caucasians afraid to leave for fear they cannot return home, passports in hand.

Kansas City, for one match venue, is paying a price because hotel bookings are far below those sold to the host cities when this World Cup process began years ago. According to a report on KCUR, a local radio station, hotel bookings are “far below” anticipated levels; the hotels currently expect even fewer guests than any normal June or July, much less the Cup and the nation’s 250 Anniversary celebrations.

I know, many of you will say, “well, Cynthia, you may like KC but it’s really that people don’t want to go there” except that the same article notes that Kansas City’s deficit in projected bookings are in 85-90% of the hotels while the national average of hotels failing to meet anticipated bookings is 80% (hardly comforting).

The bulk of the fans anticipated for this quadrennial global fandango are foreigners with those feeling unwelcome from NATO countries, Northeast Asia, Africa, Iran (unsurprisingly) or South America. Chinese certainly don’t feel we hope they will come, either. We are sending the message through some our government activities, some of our media reports, and some public statements that our country is closed to the world on our terms. Lots of us do not want others to visit-punto final.

I suspect the 11 cities hosting the games are finding similar shock at the disconnect underway. Couple the possible causes noted with fuel prices that now average $4.52 across the country (it was $3.99 in Missouri when we arrived on Monday but I don’t know two days later), the incentives to come to this event are declining rapidly, for foreigners and red-blooded soccer fans from the U.S. of A.

My point is to illustrate how often actions seemingly in a completely different realm of life can have significant consequences for others. Is it cosmic if people do not book hotel rooms near Crown Center or Arrowhead Stadium (the latter where the FIFA overlords demanded a major physical transformation of the venue which the Chiefs will confront this fall)? No, not for me but for a community promised lucrative projections for a major event the consequences will be financial while also sewing further doubts about the world.

Of course the World Cup is a single data point among many priorities our nation confronts but we have become poorly equipped to recognize that trade offs are central to a democracy and functioning in the contemporary world. We default to anticipating immediate successes, then are surprised when complications arise, casting blame on everyone else. Or, we tune out, shrug, say everything is hopeless, then disengage in a world where our participation can matter a great deal.

Actions create consequences throughout everything. This one struck me because it comes at a time when we are so unsure of the future. I don’t know how to solve the disconnect but urge firmly that we all recognize our particular interests and priorities are part of a planet with 8 billion other people, most of whom likely see things differently than we do. That neither makes us wrong nor them right but it is a reality every day.

I welcome your rebuttals, questions, observations on the Mundial, the Midwest, immigration, or visitors. I seek dialogue so please weigh in!

I appreciate your time and I especially thank the subscribers who invest in this column at $55 per year or $8 monthly.

Kansas City has some lovely flowers across the city, although we missed the roses at Loose Park this year. Here is a flowerpot from the Missouri side, then a rose from three years ago.

Be well and be safe. FIN

Karon Demirjian, “Trump Administration Welcomes World Cup Visitors to Enjoy Safe, but Brief, Visit”, NewYorkTimes.com, 7 May 2025, retrieved at https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/07/us/politics/trump-world-cup-visitors.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share

“Henry Kissinger’s Little-Known Love for Football”, YouTube.com,1982, retrieved at

Rafael Nam, “Kansas City hotels have a big World Cup problem: Bookings are far below every other host city”, KCUR.com, 5 May 2026, retrieved at https://www.kcur.org/sports/2026-05-05/world-cup-hotels-kansas-city-bookings-tickets

Heather Cox Richardson, “5 May 2026”, substack,com, 6 May 2026, retrieved at

May 5, 2026

“U.S. gas prices top $4.50 for first time in three years”, Quartz.com, 6 May 2026, retrieved at https://editor.ne16.com/vo/?FileID=35468121-7123-48cc-807e-229b71e3e3a5&m=6babc858-274f-4d54-a344-ae4f8f5ee239&MailID=10701413&listid=1009235&RecipientID=13630699552