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 that I basically wanted a soccer ball so big that NASA could see it from space,” he said. “I’m not really sure I understand how big a 25-foot soccer ball would really be.”
The large black and white inflatable soccer ball emblazoned with the restaurant’s logo did what Benson hoped: it made an impact. Fans have been out in force during the first week of World Cup matches, much to Benson’s relief.
Still, he’s not sure what the impact will be for his business and others in Fort Worth.
“It just seems to me, I admit I’m biased, but I think Fort Worth is being snubbed a little bit in the deal, that the attention is going to Dallas or Arlington,” he said. “I hope that’s not the case, but that’s how I see it right now.”
Benson said he believes Fort Worth and his restaurant, 1501 S. University Drive, would have received a little more attention from the World Cup if TCU had been selected as the official restaurant. team base camp.
“If that had happened, I hope Fort Worth would have been a little more prominent,” he said. “As things stand, places like Stockyards and Billy Bob’s will get their share of visitors. But outside of that, who knows?”
Benson isn’t just relying on a giant football to spread the word about his sports bar and restaurant that opened in 2025, next to his former Ol’ South Pancake House. The establishment also markets in a smaller and more personal way.
Rex’s hosted 50 guests from the Japan-United States DFW Society who won the auction during that organization’s recent gala for the June 14 Japan-Netherlands game.
“Football has a unique ability to bring people together no matter where they come from,” Benson said.
Expectations of economic aid for North Texas are high. A program supported by FIFA study projected that the World Cup would have an economic benefit of $30 billion for the United States, with $2 billion in benefits for North Texas alone. A University of Texas at Dallas study estimates that most of the 2.7 million visitors expected over the course of the nine games in Arlington will shell out dollars locally.
While accommodation and food may be the main focus of visitor spending, don’t tell Charlie Butler that. The manager of Soccer Post, a specialty retailer of the sport located just a few throws away from the Dallas stadium, said the store has been closed despite preparing, ordering and investing for the World Cup more than a year ago.
“After a few games, we were sold out,” he said. “One minute we’ll have a rack full of T-shirts and the next they’ll be gone, just like that.”
What kinds of things do people buy? “Everything,” Butler said. Because they had to plan ahead, in many cases before the store even knew which teams would be playing, employees didn’t always know what to order.
“And we don’t really have any history to guide us,” he said. “The last time the World Cup was held here was in 1994, and now it’s a completely different world.”
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 for 15 years and this is the busiest I’ve ever seen it, so it’s fantastic for us and for the sport,” he said.
Small businesses have also been threatened by the strict rules imposed by FIFA, with a Fort Worth company banned from Facebook for five months because a post included the hashtag #World Cup.
Benson knows very well how to avoid a red card for violating FIFA rules.
“The Texas Restaurant Association had a good session with guidelines on what a restaurant can and cannot do,” he said. “We’ve been very careful to stay within the limits.”
Beyond hotels, food and beer
Not all local World Cup spending focuses on accommodation, restaurants and drinks.
Euless-based NexCourt, which installs indoor and outdoor sports fields, has been selected by the North Texas FWC Organizing Committee to build six community mini soccer fields that will remain in local communities after the tournament ends. Mini courts are small, hard surfaces, approximately the size of a tennis court, suitable for soccer activity.
Several are already under construction. One of the locations is Sylvania Community Park in Fort Worth, where the court was built; another is in 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 custom sports surfaces designed to support soccer training, casual play and broader recreational use.
NexCourt founder and president Mark Kundysek, who spent his early years playing competitive soccer, is particularly excited to be involved.
“Football has always been an important part of my personal life, 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 field for FC Dallas in Mansfield, for example, so I think the financial impact goes beyond the next few weeks,” he said.
Meanwhile, Benson has seen some variation among customers who show up to watch the games.
For Mexico victory 1-0 over South KoreaRex had the parking lot full.
Other games have not sparked as much interest.
“Sometimes it’s absolutely shocking,” he said. “Other times not. You never know.”
Benson is glad to have a big soccer ball in front of his restaurant.
“My biggest fear is that thing will break loose and start flying down Interstate 30,” he said, laughing. “We have it very well secured, but we are in Texas, who knows?”
Bob Francis is business editor of the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at bob.francis@fortworthreport.org.
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