Arlington mayor pushes for city’s inclusion in AT&T Stadium’s temporary World Cup name

The 2026 World Cup is expected to be the grandest spotlight Dallas–Fort Worth has ever seen, especially for the city hosting all nine soccer matches. Arlington, Texas.

“There is no greater stage than this,” said Arlington Mayor Jim Ross. “Everybody’s going to be watching this, and they deserve to know where the stadium is and it’s in Arlington, Texas.”

Ross is, after all, the city’s top administrator, generally elected to be the face of the city while promoting and attracting new business.

He makes no qualms over FIFA directing host stadiums to temporarily change their official names for the tournament, mostly over branding policies, according to a press release.

The commercial aspect associated with each stadium selected, AT&T, in this case, is removed by FIFA as is policy.

What he isn’t thrilled about is the governing body directing arenas to be named for whichever major city they are ‘in or near,’ and the decision to temporarily name AT&T Stadium, ‘Dallas Stadium’ for the 2026 World Cup.

The issue resurfaced during a city council meeting which included an update from Monica Paul, the executive director of the Dallas Sports Commission leading the massive effort locally and who could have a say in the stadium’s name.

“Calling that stadium by some other city’s name is really going to go hard with over 400,000 residents in Arlington,” said Ross during the meeting.

While presenting a detailed update on local World Cup plans, including discussing the tournament’s ‘footprint,’ Paul addressed the issue over the stadium’s name by telling the council. “I know that it says Dallas Stadium, we are working very closely with FIFA to make that modification to Dallas Arlington Stadium, or Arlington Dallas.”

A light-hearted back and forth between Paul and Ross ensued. The mayor determined to be included in the stadium’s temporary new name, leading Paul to reassure him, that her team is “working to make that modification, mayor.”

“We’re happy to share it,” said Ross to Paul during the meeting. “We’re happy to call it the Arlington Dallas Stadium.”

The mayor emphasized his appreciation of Paul’s work to lure the World Cup to North Texas during the meeting.

“Give us your best effort on this,” he told her. “I know you’re not the decision maker, but I trust that you are an influential individual on this.”

Nearly every corner of DFW is set to benefit from the 2026 World Cup where Dallas has secured nine soccer matches taking place between June and July of 2026, more than any other host city.

The region has secured five team base camps to be scattered across several cities which will serve as the temporary home for teams throughout the tournament.

This and the massive influx of fans and media is expected to help generate approximately $2 billion dollars in the region’s economy, according to Paul.

In an interview Friday afternoon about the issue, Ross told NBC 5, “This isn’t a dig at Dallas. I love our neighbors over to the east.”

It’s also not about money, he said.

Ross acknowledged the city of Arlington has little say in the matter, but hopes others rally around the city that’s home to multiple professional teams.

“You go to Frisco and see what they’ve done with the PGA, with The Star up there, they deserve every bit of recognition that they get there,” he said. “You go to Fort Worth and see what they’re doing with the Stockyards and Dickie’s Arena, they deserve every bit of recognition there. Go to Dallas and see what they’re doing with AAC and everything else going on over there, they deserve that recognition, but we deserve the recognition for what’s going on here as well.”

Paul told the mayor and council she expects to have an update in early 2025 on efforts to have FIFA ‘modify’ the stadium’s name for the tournament.