When it was announced that AT&T Stadium would temporarily be renamed "Dallas Stadium" during the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the city of Arlington voiced strong dissatisfaction. After all, AT&T Stadium isn’t in Dallas – it’s located in Arlington, squarely between Dallas and Fort Worth.

Will FIFA agree to a change?

That frustration may lead to action. At a recent press conference, officials revealed that discussions with FIFA are underway about the possibility of altering the temporary name. We’ve asked FIFA to consider renaming it to ‘Dallas-Arlington Stadium’ or ‘Arlington-Dallas Stadium’, said Monica Paul, executive director of the local host committee working closely with FIFA. We’ll revisit the topic and continue talks this summer.

© Grzegorz Kaliciak

Arlington residents seek recognition – they helped pay for the stadium

The name change is required under FIFA rules, which prohibit corporate sponsorships in official stadium names. But for Arlington – a city of around 400,000 residents – the substitution of Dallas without mention of its own identity stings. Especially since Arlington often feels overshadowed by nearby Dallas, a larger city of 1.3 million with greater global visibility. We are not some damn suburb, former Arlington mayor Richard Greene once declared.

This isn’t the first time Arlington has felt overlooked. In 2022, residents voiced similar frustrations when FIFA named Dallas as one of the 16 host cities, despite the stadium itself being in Arlington. The official bid, led by North Texas business and civic leaders, was presented under the brand Dallas 2026.

City officials emphasize that Arlington deserves distinct recognition, particularly because its taxpayers helped finance the AT&T Stadium – which will host more World Cup matches than any other U.S. venue. Despite the tensions, both Arlington representatives and the Dallas Sports Commission agree on one thing: hosting the World Cup will bring immense benefits to the entire North Texas region – with projected economic gains of up to $2 billion. They stress that the success of an event of this scale requires strong cooperation between neighboring cities, as no single one could shoulder it alone.