On this episode of Banking on KC, Erika Moody, President of Helix Architecture + Design, joins host Kelly Scanlon to discuss her path from entrepreneur to merger to firm leader and how she’s cultivating a culture of mentorship, innovation and collaboration at one of Kansas City’s most respected design firms.
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Kelly Scanlon: Welcome to Banking on KC. I'm your host, Kelly Scanlon. With us on this episode is Kathy Nelson, the president and CEO of the Kansas City Sports Commission and visit KC. Kathy's been at the forefront of bringing some of the world's biggest sporting events to Kansas City, including the 2023 NFL draft and now the upcoming Vivo World Cup in 2026.
Today, she'll be sharing updates on what's ahead as we move closer to the games and further into the global spotlight of 2026. We'll also talk about Kansas City's role as a host for the Big 12 and the continued growth of other events. Kathy oversees. Welcome, Kathy.
Kathy Nelson: Thank you so much, Kelly.
Kelly Scanlon: Let's talk about that World Cup.
So we've already made history in being selected. Yes. What kind of updates can you give us that are maybe more recent, and then what can we expect as we do move towards June of 2026?
Kathy Nelson: Yes, it's coming very quickly. As you can imagine, the days the countdown clock in the office stresses all of us out. But it is fun to see how close we are to hosting the world in Kansas City.
So lots of things are being made. My role in all this has transitioned a little bit from someone that helped lead the bid for 10 years to now. I serve on the board of directors and we've hired a staff that actually run the program. So it's fascinating from my seat now. Not to be as hands-on in all the details, but to really be more of a guidance, a voice as to what our city can do.
So I'm so proud of how Kansas City has shown up to host this. I love that. When we're with our other host cities and I'm with my counterparts from across. Not only the United States, but North America. They're like, oh my gosh, we have to hear about Kansas City again. Because they continue to say, well, Kansas City met the deadline.
Kansas City, check the box. Kansas City was the first to the table with their their fan festival plans and other cities should look to Kansas City of how to set up a board of directors. That makes me super proud to think. Even though we're all in this together with the Miami's and New York's LA's, we still have a little bit of a competition in us.
So proud of our efforts, proud of our staff. That's running KC 2026, and then proud of the Sports Commission staff and the Visit KC staff. So my role now and the role of those two organizations are to get people to come to Kansas City. So we're traveling internationally all of the time to make sure that the world knows about Kansas City because they've been to Miami, New York, la.
They haven't been to Kansas City necessarily, so it's our on our shoulders to make sure we're spreading that word. But planning is going so well. I'm again, so proud now is on the executive board and on the board of directors to really see we are checking those boxes. We still have a long way to go. We still have a lot to do, but the big pieces of the puzzle have come together.
Kelly Scanlon: So from a visual standpoint, Kansas Citys aren't gonna necessarily see a whole lot more activity. It's gonna be a lot of behind the scenes things that you're talking about.
Kathy Nelson: What you'll see in local media between now and you know, holiday season is the draw for volunteers. There's a big push to get volunteers to help us.
The website is getting more and more hits. Tickets are now on sale. You can start to sign up through fifa.com to be. Put in the portal to have the chance to buy a ticket. So all of that, you'll really start to feel the buzz and the energy. You'll start to see more and more dressing of the city getting ready to welcome the world.
And then December is our huge event. December 5th is when we will find out which countries will be playing in Kansas City. So leading up to December 5th, you'll, you'll be a lot behind the scenes. But after December 5th, when we know which countries are playing here, and then which countries would be based here, that's when it'll really come to life.
Kelly Scanlon: What other ways can Kansas City Indian get involved?
Kathy Nelson: Well, what's so fun about this is there are only so many tickets, right, but a World Cup. I've attended World Cups, I've attended the Euros over in Germany. It brings so many people together without a ticket. So the fan festival is a free event for people to attend, and we're still working through how many days fan festival will actually be open, but it'll be open a significant number of days throughout.
This June and July window. So that's a great opportunity to go experience that. There'll be large screens to watch the other matches, bands, all things Kansas City and all things FIFA World Cup. Then in your local communities, I guarantee there'll be watch parties, there'll be popup things to do, and then just being out and about in Kansas City.
I think that's what I'm so excited about and so proud about that it took us 10 years to get this to happen in our city. Now it's our time to shine. We don't want you to go to your lake house for a month. We don't want you to go on vacation somewhere. We want you to be here with us celebrating all things Kansas City and showing the world how great our city is.
Kelly Scanlon: So what kind of an impact do you expect all of that will have on our economy, on our culture and our international visibility?
Kathy Nelson: Numbers are hard at times when we're still waiting to see how this plays out. We expect, along with FIFA's help with other significant, um, details, helping us get to understand how many people will be here.
We expect 650,000 people to visit Kansas City, and half of those will be international visitors. That's an impact. That is measurable, that is impactful, that will have a legacy we've never understood or seen before. So that's one thing. Then those people are here and they're gonna spend money. Yes. Right.
And they wanna experience it. And a lot of those people won't have a ticket. We can't put 650,000 people at Arrowhead. So they want to be here. They wanna be around the energy. They're gonna book hotel rooms, they're gonna go out to eat. They need transportation, they wanna buy gear. Like all of that, those dollars stay in our community, which is super exciting.
And then beyond that, we want those people to come back. Yeah, we want them to fly back to Kansas City and take a vacation with their families. We want them to go, I should start a business here. Or, oh my gosh, I could live here. So I think for us, that realization of this will have a ripple effect for four or five, 10 years down the road is so fun.
And then on my convention side with Visit KC, we have the door opened so many times. That we've never been able to step into before because they know we will know how to welcome international visitors. So we have international business now that would never have listened to us before, that now knows us because of Ted Lasso.
Oh yes. Route 66, Travis and Taylor and the World Cup. And they're like, there is something happening in Kansas City. I've gotta go see this and I want my convention to be hosted there. So it's again, that long-term effect of business being booked here. It's like we can't get out of our way fast enough.
Kelly Scanlon: Well, that's a good problem to have. Yes, absolutely. But it, but it is, it is a lot of pressure though, you know, to be, to be performing at that level. It goes without saying that an event of this magnitude takes enormous coordination. I mean, shoot, just getting the bid was probably a lot of coordination, but now we have it and, and all of the logistics and everything else that's gonna be involved.
So what are some of the biggest challenges that your team has faced so far in preparing for 2026, and what are some of the early wins that you've been really proud of?
Kathy Nelson: Oh my gosh. I'll start with early wins because I know that we were an underdog in landing the matches. We figured we could be a base camp, but to land matches the arrowhead was gonna be a lift.
So working at a state level. Back then it was Lieutenant Governor Kehoe and working with his office and getting some of the things that required legislation to have. And and getting those wins before we actually were awarded to prove that Kansas City and the state and the region could figure these things out together.
Those were things that relationships were formed that now have paid off times 10. And other cities were like, you already got that done. And they're just now starting that. And I think, oh, we did that years ago. So those types of wins have been so helpful in what we're doing. And then. Things like buses, getting buses secured, the transportation.
Sure, yes. Doing things like building our board of directors that we built out in May of 2022, forming the legal entity that is running the World Cup. Other cities, some of them are still trying to figure that out and so those are are huge wins for us. Because again, we're the smallest city to host the World Cup in 2026.
We don't take that for granted, and we know we gotta kind of punch above our weight class sometimes on this. So those types of wins have been great. There's still a lot of heavy lifting to do. So how do you welcome over a half a million people to your city? And granted, those aren't people won't all show up over one day.
But you know, just, are we ready? Are we training our hospitality workers, our Uber drivers and our taxi cab drivers? Are they aware? What are we doing at the airport? So those types of big things for me from my tourism side, that's what's so important. Now, are we ready to welcome the world? Things like our Visit KC website, doing it multilingual now, and we just launched that a couple months ago to make sure that anyone looking at Kansas City can look at it in any language.
Those things are what we're ticking off now
Kelly Scanlon: alongside these big events we've been talking about, like fifa, uh, the draft, uh, some of the other things. We continue to be a hub for. College athletics. Yes. So talk to us about what's going on there.
Kathy Nelson: Well, we've locked in Big 12 men's and women's basketball championships through 2031, and thrilled about that.
We just had this incredible, um, call with Big 12 because our focus really is now we, we sell out the men and that that continues to grow within adding more schools. Well, now we wanna sell out the women like. Kansas City knows how to sell out the KC current. Yes. We should be doing that for Big 12 Women's basketball.
Mm-hmm. Um, and then we also have MIAA men's and women's basketball locked in as well as NAI Men's Basketball Championships. So we certainly still are in that college market. We know that, you know, things like the MUKU basketball game that'll happen in December at T-Mobile Center. Those types of things are so important to us.
A Nebraska, Cincinnati football game of Arrowhead that happened this fall. So critical to that college landscape of everything we're focused on. And then it's bid season again with ncaa. So we have some massive bids we're working on and NCAA bids are in the mix of all of that. We, um, will actually be in Indianapolis this fall and two days of education classes with them of.
What are we bidding on? What, what works best for Kansas City? And we're bidding against every other city in the country to host these championships years out.
Kelly Scanlon: So what, what are those events of the college, the professional, all of them, when you pull them all together, what role do they play in keeping Kansas City a sports, I think we can say it now. Capital.
Kathy Nelson: Absolutely. You know, I think what's great for me is when I sit back in my living room and I think, oh my gosh, what's going on this weekend? I know that now you have your choice, depending on how the team schedules play out of four professional teams, you've got the Mavericks with hockey, right?
You've got all these other opportunities for amateur and professional sports, and then you lay on college on that. I mean, it's unbelievable how at any given day. Monday through Sunday, there's an opportunity and we say we have three words in our office that are so important and it's participate spectate and celebrate all around sports.
So we want you to run the Garmin Kansas City Marathon with us. We want you to participate in our Thanksgiving day round. We want you to participate in a sport, but as important, we want you to spectate because Kansas City shows up. We know we're a sports city. There's no doubt. When I travel internationally, we're known because of our sports, and of course, Patrick.
Yes. Has helped tremendously with that. Absolutely. Raise that visibility just to notch you. Absolutely. Absolutely. But I think it's so important that there's a diverse opportunity here. I just was with, um, a chamber of commerce from another city in Florida. They came to Kansas City to study. Why is Kansas City so passionate about women's sports?
They wanted to know what's the secret sauce right now with women's sports for me and my chair, it's magical. When now people call us and go, what in the world, what is happening over there?
Kelly Scanlon: So, so can we talk about that for just a minute? Let's just stop and, and dive into that. What is it about Kansas City and women's sports?
Because we are looked to as leaders here, the current is doing so well. Is it just the dedicated people who had the vision and just said, we're gonna make it happen?
Kathy Nelson: Oh, absolutely. I think when, when you think women's sports, you think of Brittany Mahomes? Mm-hmm. And Chris. And Angie Long, yes. Yeah. And their vision, their dedication.
And their get it done attitude, you better jump on that bandwagon fast. 'cause you're not gonna get a ticket if you don't jump in early. And I think that says a lot. And the other thing is there's such this big groundswell across the country to celebrate women's sports, especially at a collegiate and now professional level, whether that's basketball or volleyball or soccer.
And, um, we're hosting USA versus news. New Zealand international soccer, women's soccer, uh, late October, it's almost sold out. I mean, that's, that's amazing that our city knows that that match is happening and you better jump on quick and buy it. And the great thing is, is I'm a huge college basketball fan.
Women's Big 12 basketball and I basketball are some of the best games you can see comes down to buzzer beaters. Oh yeah. You know, last second shots, just the overtime and it's just. It's amazing the level, and I do think Kansas City appreciates that. And we want, we crave that attention of let's go and show the world how we show up.
Kelly Scanlon: So one of the other big events that the city hosts every year is the Kansas City Marathon. What can runners and residents expect from this race?
Kathy Nelson: Well, every great city has a great marathon, and Kansas City is certainly that city, and I think Kansas City, middle of October. The weather's normally pretty perfect.
The leaves are changing and the energy in our city, the streetcar's extending, you know, there's just. So much to see and do and when runners come here and we have runners from all 50 states, from from around the world come into Kansas City to run the marathon, they can't get over how many different types of neighborhoods they run through in Kansas City.
Kelly Scanlon: That's something we take for granted. Yes, I've had friends in from other places and they say the same thing.
Kathy Nelson: Yeah, and you're running Westport, you're running the Country Club Plaza, you know, downtown. It's just that people can't get over how diverse our little city is in 26 miles. Right. And I think that's pretty special.
And I, the energy behind all that, I just love and adore and I love that we're a bucket list marathon now for so many people.
Kelly Scanlon: You've been behind, as we've already talked about some of the biggest sports wins in Kansas City history, the draft, the FIFA World Cup, the ongoing presence of the Big 12, some of the other college events that you talked about today.
What's your vision for how these events will shape Kansas City sports identity overall for the next decade?
Kathy Nelson: Well, what I love, and actually my, I already see my vision coming true is. When I am in London, um, or in Frankfurt or in Sao Paulo, that when we walk in a room, people aren't like, now who are you and who are you with?
And, and what do you do? Now it's, oh my gosh, it's Kansas City. And it used to be people would say, oh, the city of Kansas. I'm like, no, no, no. Really? Yes. Because they don't understand. They don't say London City, they don't see Dallas City. Yeah. They assume we're the city of Cairnes. I'm like, no, no, no. So now we have that.
Fixed. So now when I walk in the room, I'm not on the coattails of a Dallas or a Houston. We stand alone. We go to these international shows by ourself now, and they know that Kansas City is the place to be and they can feel our heartbeat. And I think that is so special. We travel with our Casey Hart shirts everywhere and the.
The color and the theme of the country. But they know when we're coming down, they wanna talk to us and they wanna talk to us about sports. Sure. And that's so special. So my vision is I wanted to help lift and elevate our city on an international stage. And I kind of feel like we're checking that box.
Kelly Scanlon: Well, you already said that you're being called a model for the FIFA World Cup Games. Uh, do you see that, uh, Kansas City will be. Look to or called upon perhaps to help other cities achieve some of the things that we have? Or would that be a competition?
Kathy Nelson: Oh, well, I mean, we do. We, all of my, all of my industry peers, we all talk, we're all friends, right?
I mean, that's just kind of how, how it works. But we all compete against each other. I do think people lean into Kansas City's heart and that we've truly, you know, hung ourselves on sports and that, that heart feeling. But I also feel like it has opened a door. We mentioned this a little bit earlier of what the future looks like in December.
We're hosting NCAA Division one women's. College Cup, the final four for women's soccer will be hosted in Kansas City at ccp KC Stadium. Wow. That's, congratulations, Kathy. Thank you. And the very next week, a week later, we're hosting the Division one Women's Volleyball Championships at T-Mobile Center, and that's already sold out and it will be, we'll be taken over for two, two and a half weeks in Kansas City with elite female athletes and fans.
I mean, things like that don't just happen. It's because people know us and they trust us and they know our work and they know we get it done and they know we show up.
Kelly Scanlon: Absolutely.
Kathy Nelson: And I think my vision is we continue to do that, whether it's hosting and bidding on and maybe hosting the 2031 Women's FIFA World Cup.
We're working on a bid for the 2031 Men's Rugby World Cup, the 2033 Women's Rugby World Cup. So there are big things that are in the works, and I think what's happening in 2026 and with Pam Kramer and our team at KC 2026 and everything that's getting done continues to elevate. You know, everything we touch.
Kelly Scanlon: Let's talk about Kathy Nelson for a minute. I mean, you don't just, I don't know, maybe you did, you don't just as a kid say, oh, I wanna be, you know, this person who brings sports and all these other events to Kansas City conferences and stuff. How did you get into this? And you're obviously passionate about it, so talk to us about that.
Kathy Nelson: Yeah. Kansas City, born and raised, um, my mom actually worked for Western Auto and went on to work with Ferrell Gash, and my dad worked for TWA for 47 years. So all I know is Kansas City. My background's in television. I had television production, specifically in sports production. So grow growing up and then falling into TV was this unbelievable dream and how it worked out.
I worked at Fox four for 12 years and then went on and helped launch a local sports station here in town. Used to be called Metro Sports. Oh yes, yes, I remember that. Yeah. So, you know, did I ever think I'd be sitting in this chair? No. Did I ever think though I'd be doing something that helps Kansas City?
Yes.
Kelly Scanlon: So that that's always been in your blood? Yes. Kathy, thank you so much for all the passion that you bring, all the energy. It is obvious that you and your team have really done a lot of heavy lifting to bring these events in and just the best of luck as it continues to roll out and then the big time actually comes.
Yes.
Kathy Nelson: Thank you. We'll all get a good nap in after that.
Joe Close: This is Joe Close, regional leader. Thank you to Kathy Nelson for being our guest on this episode of Banking on KC. As President and CEO of the Kansas City Sports Commission and Visit KC Kathy shared how Kansas City is preparing to host the world for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. From recruiting volunteers to welcoming hundreds of thousands of visitors who will experience our city's energy, culture, and hospitality.
She also highlighted how major events like the big 12 tournaments, the Kansas City Marathon, and the growing visibility of women's sports, continued to position our city as a global sports leader. Our bank is proud to support the organizations and individuals who help Kansas City shine on the world stage building momentum, pride, and opportunity across our community.
Thanks for tuning in this week we're Banking on You, Kansas City. Country Club Bank, a division of FNBO, member FDIC.