Throughout the bid process to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Kansas City (the smallest bidding market) was consistently referenced by the media as being "on the bubble." Come learn about how the "Soccer Capital of America" burst that bubble and defied expectations to be named a Host City for the FIFA World Cup in 2026.
This program will be presented by Katherine Holland. Katherine assumed the role of Director of the KC2026 FIFA World Cup Bid after serving as Director of Marketing & Sales for the Greater Kansas City Sports Commission & Foundation | WIN for KC since early 2017. After 15 years living and working in New York City and San Francisco, she returned home to Kansas City in late 2015 and was Executive Director of the 2017 U.S. Figure Skating Championships. She then helped lead Kansas City’s successful bid to host the 2023 NFL Draft as well as other major collegiate and national sporting events. In 2022, she was named one of the Kansas City Business Journal’s NextGen Leaders. She is a graduate of Central Exchange’s Emerging Leaders program and will complete the KC Chamber’s Centurions leadership development program in 2023.
Katherine has cultivated a successful career focused on Sports & Entertainment Management and Marketing. She has sourced, negotiated, and led the activation of large-scale partnerships on behalf of several financial services companies including American Express, JPMorgan Chase and Visa. She has also worked on the agency side with Momentum Worldwide as well as the property side as Vice President of Partnership Strategy for the Madison Square Garden Company in New York City
Katherine grew up in Kansas City, MO before heading out east to attend Trinity College in Hartford, CT where she played soccer while earning a BA in American Studies. She later earned her MBA, with a double major in Marketing and Communications/Media Management, from Fordham University in New York City.