Rex Benson wanted something as big as Texas to draw attention to his sports bar, Rex\u2019s Bar & Grill, during the 2026 FIFA World Cup.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI told my team I basically wanted a soccer ball so large that NASA could see it from space,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m not quite sure I understood just how large a 25-foot soccer ball would actually be.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The large black and white inflatable soccer ball emblazoned with the restaurant\u2019s logo did as Benson hoped: It made an impact. Fans have been plentiful during the first week of the World Cup matches, to Benson\u2019s relief.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Still, he is unsure what the impact will be for his business and others in Fort Worth.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt just seems to me, admittedly I\u2019m biased, but I think Fort Worth is getting a little snubbed in the deal, that the attention is going to either Dallas or Arlington,\u201d he said. \u201cI hope that\u2019s not the case but that\u2019s the way it looks to me at the moment.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Benson said he\u00a0 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<\/a> camp.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIf that had happened, I expect Fort Worth would have had a bit more of the limelight,\u201d he said. \u201cAs it is, places like the Stockyards and Billy Bob\u2019s, they\u2019ll see their share of visitors. But outside of that, who knows?\u201d<\/p>\n 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\u2019 South Pancake House. The establishment is also marketing in smaller, more personal ways.\u00a0<\/p>\n Rex’s hosted 50 guests from the Japan-America Society DFW who won the auction bid during that organization\u2019s recent gala for the June 14 Japan-Netherlands game.<\/p>\n “Soccer has a unique ability to bring people together regardless of where they come from,” Benson said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Expectations of an economic assist for North Texas are high. A FIFA-backed study <\/a>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<\/a> estimates most of the expected 2.7 million visitors over the course of the nine matches in Arlington will be shelling out dollars\u00a0 locally.\u00a0<\/p>\n While accommodations and food may be the primary spending focus of visitors, don\u2019t 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAfter some games, we\u2019ve just sold out,\u201d he said. \u201cOne minute we\u2019ll have a rack full of jerseys, the next they\u2019re gone \u2014 that fast.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n What kinds of things are people buying? \u201cEverything,\u201d Butler said. Because they had to plan ahead, in many cases even before the store knew what teams were playing, employees didn\u2019t always know what to order.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAnd we don\u2019t really have any history to go by,\u201d he said. \u201cThe last time the World Cup was here was 1994, and it\u2019s a whole different world now.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Butler said he hired more employees to handle the load and continue to get new stock every day.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s tough, but I\u2019ve been here 15 years, and this is the busiest I\u2019ve seen it, so that’s great for us and for the sport,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Small business have also been challenged by the strict rules<\/a> imposed by FIFA, with one Fort Worth business locked out of Facebook for five months because a posting included the hashtag #World Cup.\u00a0<\/p>\n Benson is well-versed on avoiding a red card for violating FIFA\u2019s rules.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe Texas Restaurant Association had a good session with guidelines on what a restaurant can and can\u2019t do,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019ve been very careful to stay within the boundaries.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Beyond hotels, food and beer\u00a0<\/p>\n Not all the local World Cup spending is centered on lodging, restaurants and drinking.\u00a0<\/p>\n 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.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n The mini-pitches are part of the organizing committee\u2019s 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n NexCourt founder and President Mark Kundysek, who spent his early years playing competitive soccer, is particularly pleased to be involved.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cSoccer 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,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re building a mini-pitch for FC Dallas in Mansfield, for instance, so I think the financial impact is beyond just these next few weeks,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Benson, meanwhile, has seen some variance among customers showing up to watch the games.\u00a0<\/p>\n