In Kansas City, one of the host cities with a “very high risk of experiencing extreme heat stress conditions,” organisers are taking no chances.
That will mean installing misting fans, additional shade and cooling stations at Fan Parks, for an estimated 650,000 visitors across the tournament.
What organisers can control, says Pam Kramer, head of the KC2026 organising committee, is everything around the matchday experience. Kansas City has set up a regional heat-planning task force, focusing on prevention, public advice, on-site medical response, high-risk groups and real-time environmental monitoring.
The task force brings together academics, healthcare professionals, meteorologists and athletic trainers from the city’s four major sports teams, all of whom regularly manage heat during their own matches.
Another strategy it’s planning to deploy are phone push notifications before fans leave their hotel rooms for the day, about what to do and how to stay hydrated.
