Hotel bosses in one US city report higher sales of rooms for High School softball tournament than the World Cup16:53, 25 May 2026Updated 16:54, 25 May 2026The city where the England football team will be based has reported record-breaking hotel room bookings next month - but it’s for a school softball tournament NOT the World Cup. United States Hotel bosses have been stunned at the slow take-up of rooms for matches at the world’s biggest sporting event. And they said there has been a far bigger demand for the ‘invitational high school’ competition.‌Thomas Tuchel’s England side are staying in a suburb of Kansas City which is hosting six games this summer including a match involving Lionel Messi’s Argentina. But fans are certainly not flocking to the mid west city.‌‌READ MORE: Three-year probe revives claims Gordon Banks was poisoned by CIA during 1970 World CupREAD MORE: Thomas Tuchel is the 'double' of Sir Alf Ramsey in bid for World Cup gloryIt could actually good news for the England WAGS - who are set to make flying in-and-out trips to visit their loved ones during the tournament. It means more cheaper rooms will be available.The general manager of Holiday Inn Express & Suites in Overland Park Mieke Swanson said the softball tournament has booked up all their rooms immediately before the World Cup.But he admitted World Cup bookings have been “a little slow, but we’re expecting them to pick up.” He added: “I don’t think we’re going to reach the numbers projected a few months ago.”‌The Kansas City stadium will host four group stage games - featuring Argentina, Algeria, Ecuador, Curaçao, Tunisia, Netherlands and Austria - one Round of 32 match, and a quarter-final.Organisers of the softball Top Gun Invitational, which attracts 4,000 players and their families were very worried about the World Cup’s impact on their annual event.‌Jeff Wallace, vice president of business development for Top Gun Events said when news broke that Kansas City was a hub for the largest sporting event in the world it was a “bit unsettling.” He said: “It was kind of scary for us for a while. It put the event in jeopardy.” Some England fans are expected to base themselves near the team’s HQ - the Inn at Meadowbrook in a suburb of Kansas.They will be joined by supporters from other nations as they bid for World Cup glory. Softball bosses were terrified but they have won the battle for rooms.‌With 360 teams from 30 states, more than 3,000 room nights are needed to accommodate all the visitors for the event. But because FIFA always reserves huge blocks of hotel rooms to make sure officials and teams are accommodated, the softball organisers were initially looking at a significant room shortage.Mr Wallace said: “If you had asked me in November or December, we were petrified.”But he’s now much more relaxed after FIFA has released some of those hotel rooms, and Top Gun has worked out a way to house about 200 officials it will need for the softball games.‌He said: “We should be in good shape. Now it’s business as usual.”A recent analysis by the American Hotel and Lodging Association received wide attention in Kansas City for reporting that roughly 80% of hotel respondents to its survey said bookings are trending below expectations.‌Here, 80-90% of respondent hotels said the numbers of booking was behind a typical June or July that had no major events. In fact, the report said, Kansas City — home to four confirmed team base camps — was considered to be the most negatively impacted World Cup host market.DoubleTree general manager Darren Chadwick said all the hotel’s double rooms have been booked for the Top Gun softball tournament.Although bookings for the World Cup have been slower, he said he’s reserving judgment until the first match is closer.‌“It’s just too soon,” he said, noting that tickets are still being released and the World Cup is “uncharted territory,” for much of the United States.The assistant general manager Zerinmar Yambo of the Candlewood Suites said bookings for the softball tournament have already taken up all but a few single rooms.For the first World Cup match on June 16, there are still eight rooms left, she said, adding that World Cup occupancy remains to be seen.Article continues belowShe explained: "It’s still kind of early to tell."