Rex Benson wanted something as big as Texas to draw attention to his sports bar, Rex’s Bar & Grill, during the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
“I told my team I basically wanted a soccer ball so large that NASA could see it from space,” he said. “I’m not quite sure I understood just how large a 25-foot soccer ball would actually be.”
The large black and white inflatable soccer ball emblazoned with the restaurant’s logo did as Benson hoped: It made an impact. Fans have been plentiful during the first week of the World Cup matches, to Benson’s relief.
Still, he is unsure what the impact will be for his business and others in Fort Worth.
“It just seems to me, admittedly I’m biased, but I think Fort Worth is getting a little snubbed in the deal, that the attention is going to either Dallas or Arlington,” he said. “I hope that’s not the case but that’s the way it looks to me at the moment.”
Benson said he believes Fort Worth and his restaurant, 1501 S. University Drive, would have received a bit more World Cup attention had TCU been selected as an official team base camp.
“If that had happened, I expect Fort Worth would have had a bit more of the limelight,” he said. “As it is, places like the Stockyards and Billy Bob’s, they’ll see their share of visitors. But outside of that, who knows?”
Benson is not just depending on a giant soccer ball to spread the word about his sports bar and restaurant that opened in 2025, adjacent to his long-standing Ol’ South Pancake House. The establishment is also marketing in smaller, more personal ways.
Rex’s hosted 50 guests from the Japan-America Society DFW who won the auction bid during that organization’s recent gala for the June 14 Japan-Netherlands game.
“Soccer has a unique ability to bring people together regardless of where they come from,” Benson said.
Expectations of an economic assist for North Texas are high. A FIFA-backed study projected the World Cup would have a $30 billion economic benefit for the U.S., with $2 billion in benefits for North Texas alone. A University of Texas at Dallas study estimates most of the expected 2.7 million visitors over the course of the nine matches in Arlington will be shelling out dollars locally.
While accommodations and food may be the primary spending focus of visitors, don’t tell that to Charlie Butler. The manager at Soccer Post, a retailer that caters to the sport located a few free kicks away from Dallas Stadium, said the store has been slammed despite preparing, ordering and investing for the World Cup over a year ago.
“After some games, we’ve just sold out,” he said. “One minute we’ll have a rack full of jerseys, the next they’re gone — that fast.”
What kinds of things are people buying? “Everything,” Butler said. Because they had to plan ahead, in many cases even before the store knew what teams were playing, employees didn’t always know what to order.
“And we don’t really have any history to go by,” he said. “The last time the World Cup was here was 1994, and it’s a whole different world now.”
Butler said he hired more employees to handle the load and continue to get new stock every day.
“It’s tough, but I’ve been here 15 years, and this is the busiest I’ve seen it, so that’s great for us and for the sport,” he said.
Small business have also been challenged by the strict rules imposed by FIFA, with one Fort Worth business locked out of Facebook for five months because a posting included the hashtag #World Cup.
Benson is well-versed on avoiding a red card for violating FIFA’s rules.
“The Texas Restaurant Association had a good session with guidelines on what a restaurant can and can’t do,” he said. “We’ve been very careful to stay within the boundaries.”
Beyond hotels, food and beer
Not all the local World Cup spending is centered on lodging, restaurants and drinking.
Euless-based NexCourt, which installs indoor and outdoor athletic courts, has been selected by the North Texas FWC Organizing Committee to build six community soccer mini-pitches that will remain in local communities after the tournament ends. Mini-pitches are small, hard court surfaces, about the size of a tennis court, suited for soccer activity.
Several are already under construction. One of the locations is Sylvania Community Park in Fort Worth, where the pitch has been built; another is at George Stevens Park in Arlington.
The mini-pitches are part of the organizing committee’s ongoing legacy initiative, which aims to increase access to soccer for communities across the region, particularly in underserved areas. Each location will feature customized athletic surfacing designed to support soccer training, pickup play and broader recreational use.
NexCourt founder and President Mark Kundysek, who spent his early years playing competitive soccer, is particularly pleased to be involved.
“Soccer has always been a major part of my life personally, so having the opportunity to help create spaces that bring communities together around the game is something our entire team is proud of,” he said.
Kundysek said he has already been asked to build more mini-pitches for families and other organizations in the area and believes the World Cup will create more demand.
“We’re building a mini-pitch for FC Dallas in Mansfield, for instance, so I think the financial impact is beyond just these next few weeks,” he said.
Benson, meanwhile, has seen some variance among customers showing up to watch the games.
For Mexico’s 1-0 win over South Korea, Rex’s had a full parking lot.
Other games have not drawn as much interest.
“Sometimes it is absolutely rocking,” he said. “Other times not. You just never know.”
Benson is glad he’s got a big soccer ball in front of his restaurant.
“My biggest fear is that that thing will get loose and start flying down Interstate 30,” he said, laughing. “We’ve got it secured really well, but we’re in Texas, who knows?”
Bob Francis is business editor for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at bob.francis@fortworthreport.org.
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