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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium will be the site of some World Cup games in 2026, but the stadium will have to undergo upgrades before any matches are played.

Friday on Twitter, Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas said the stadium will need $50M worth of improvements for the games.

“Look for an ask to the state on that in addition to private fundraising to fund that step,” he tweeted.

The source of that “private fundraising” is unknown at present. 

“The Authority would have no source of funds,” Jackson County Sports Complex Authority (JCSCA) Executive Director Jim Rowland said Tuesday in an email when asked if his entity will be asked to pay for stadium improvements. 

The JCSCA is the landlord of both GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium and Kauffman Stadium. The group had its first board meeting Tuesday, since it was announced that the home of the Chiefs will be hosting World Cup games.

“I know the Chiefs are in New York City meeting with FIFA as we speak,” Rowland said during Tuesday’s meeting.

The Chiefs, a Visit KC, KC Sports Commission, City of Kansas City, MO, and Sporting Kansas City representative were all in New York Tuesday. They return Wednesday.

“We’ll start to get more and more details,” Rowland continued, answering a question from Board Chair Brad Scott.

“I assume before the next meeting, I’ll have the ability to give you a detailed list of when things will happen, where they’ll happen, etc.”

In an interview with FOX4 Friday, City Manager Brian Platt said the field, or the “pitch” will have to be raised for the games, it will have to be widened too, which may mean seats will have to be taken out.

“The question that I get from people is, ‘If the stadium has to go under a renovation or a modification, who pays for that, and who pays to restore it back to where it was?'” JCSCA Board Member Mark Bredemeier said Tuesday during the meeting.

“Great question,” Rowland replied. “Call Kathy Nelson of the Kansas City Sports Commission.”

Nelson would not comment Tuesday. Nelson was not a part of that five-member delegation in New York.