(ST. JOSEPH, Mo) In preparation for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, St. Joseph’s local business leaders discussed ways to bring the World Cup crowd to St. Joseph.
Local business leaders met at the Fulkerson Center at Missouri Western State University to discuss new opportunities and strategies ahead of the FIFA World Cup, which is less than eight months away.
“Businesses should really start thinking about how to develop that relationship with visitors,” said CEO of Segura Marketing, Nicholas Segura. “Visitors coming to the Midwest market are looking for hotels, restaurants, locations, and special spaces to visit, highlights in the area already. Now they’re planning their events. They’re planning their schedule to come to St Joseph.”
Segura anticipates that any businesses within three hours of Kansas City could be affected by the more than 100,000 people coming to Missouri.
Segura is trying to help local business owners understand and attract the audience the World Cup will bring.
“The biggest audience of the World Cup is going to be Latino consumers,” said Segura. “They’re the fifth-largest economy in the world. U.S. Hispanic consumers, and many of them, follow the World Cup. In fact, the World Cup is the most followed sport in the world, but one of the biggest audiences of the World Cup is Hispanic consumers.”
Segura said that business leaders need to build relationships with the World Cup audience before they come to St. Joseph.
