World Cup Organizing Committee hails partnership as ‘big win’ because of Choctaw’s long-standing investment in D-FW sports.
Choctaw Casinos & Resorts has become an Official Dallas World Cup 2026 Host City Supporter, an important development as momentum builds toward the first men’s World Cup in North America in 32 years.
Choctaw joins Coca-Cola Southwest Beverages as the first two host city supporters secured by the North Texas FIFA World Cup (FWC) Organizing Committee, which will announce the partnership Wednesday. Each of the 16 host cities can have as many as 10 official sponsors.
The partnership will enable Choctaw, whose flagship property resides in Durant, Okla., to play an integral role in supporting community engagement initiatives and will include visibility throughout the region through an array of activations and promotions.
“All of our host supporters are a big piece of our puzzle for us to be successful in hosting the World Cup — Choctaw especially is special because of what they already contribute here to the North Texas region,” Monica Paul, executive director of the Dallas Sports Commission and president of the North Texas FWC Organizing Committee, told The Dallas Morning News. “To extend that brand to the largest sporting event in the world was a big win for both Choctaw and for us as an organizing committee to have them on board.”
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Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Beginning in June, AT&T Stadium will host nine World Cup matches, the most of any venue in the 48-team event, including a semifinal.
Choctaw Casinos & Resorts has a deep presence and investment in North Texas, where its partnerships include the Texas Rangers, Dallas Mavericks, Dallas Stars, CJ Cup Byron Nelson, Charles Schwab Challenge, Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo and Dickies Arena. Choctaw also has a robust athlete-ambassador portfolio, which includes Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith, Darren Woodson and Pudge Rodriguez, all of whom are faces for Choctaw’s “Where the Players Play” campaign.
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Choctaw Casinos & Resorts possesses a variety of gaming, hotel and resort properties throughout southeastern Oklahoma. It is owned and operated by the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, the third-largest Indian Nation in the United States with almost 230,000 tribal members and 13,000 employees.
“I want people who attend the World Cup to understand that we’re more than just a gaming tribe,” Gary Batton, chief of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, told The News. “We are so much more than that. That’s what we want to leave, is that experience with them [visitors for the World Cup] about who the Choctaw people are.”
Batton said Choctaw is honored to celebrate a a global event that embraces the same ideals as Choctaw Nation: unity, culture and togetherness.
Both Choctaw and Coca-Cola are expected to have a presence at Friday’s watch party at Billy Bob’s Texas in Fort Worth for the World Cup draw, which will be held at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. And Paul said to expect activations at the FIFA Fan Festival at Fair Park, which will be open the full 39 days of the World Cup. Several other events the organizing committee is hosting in the coming months will also see Choctaw activations.
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“In our minds, the World Cup starts now,” said Erica Kosemund, chief brand officer at Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. “It starts at the draw party and extends way past the end of the World Cup. We want to find ways we can bring our culture and our faith, our heritage, along with our businesses, into Fair Park and really accentuate everything the World Cup is doing.”
Kosemund added that she hopes to have Choctaw’s dancers and native singers at welcome ceremonies and to invite visitors to come to the Choctaw reservation and to show them its businesses, culture and heritage.
“Even when we started just initial discussions [with Chotaw], we could see there was a lot of synergy, a lot of excitement, a lot of possibility and things we could do together through the World Cup to hit both of our objectives,” Paul said. “We see this as a very exciting partnership, and very exciting that we’re able to do it leading into the draw on Friday.”
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