Chiefs chairman and CEO Clark Hunt talks World Cup anticipation & what to expect
Kansas Citians will be “shocked in a good way” by the FIFA World Cup when it arrives here in June, says Chiefs chairman and CEO Clark Hunt.
He should know. He’s been going to games of the world’s most popular sporting event since 1974, when he was 9.
Hunt sat down with SportsBeat KC, the sports podcast of The Star and KCUR (89.3 FM) to discuss his World Cup experience and career in soccer. Hunt played in college at SMU and became one of the driving forces behind the formation of Major League Soccer, which was born after the last time the U.S. hosted the World Cup in 1994.
The Hunt family made their wealth in the oil business, and Lamar Hunt founded the American Football League and the Dallas Texans, the forerunner to the Chiefs. But the Hunts also were pioneers in U.S. soccer, and Kansas City likely wouldn’t be part of the World Cup without their influence.
SportsBeat KC is the sports podcast of The Kansas City Star and KCUR, hosted by Blair Kerkhoff. It’s produced by Hannah Wise, Suzanne Hogan, and Gabriella Lacey, and edited by Jeff Rosen and Scott Chasen.
This story was originally published May 5, 2026 at 2:29 PM with the headline "Chiefs chairman and CEO Clark Hunt talks World Cup anticipation & what to expect."