FIFA President Gianni Infantino has hailed the FIFA World Cup 2026™ International Broadcast Centre (IBC) in Dallas as "absolutely incredible" as the state-of-the-art facility was officially inaugurated at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Centre.

The 45,000-square-metre hub – described by the FIFA President as "the most technologically advanced and top of the art international broadcast centre that the world has ever seen" – will serve as the global broadcast operations centre for the tournament set to take place across 16 host cities in Canada, Mexico and the USA from 11 June to 19 July 2026.

It is the second time that Dallas has been designated this prestigious function, having also hosted the IBC during the 1994 FIFA World Cup USA™, and the FIFA President was in no doubt about the scale of what has been assembled in the heart of the Texas city.

"It's absolutely incredible to be here in Dallas at this fantastic International Broadcast Centre – it's getting better and better," said Mr Infantino. "There's more and more technology, AI power, people, experts. It's incredible to see how much work, how much passion, how much expertise, how much high-level technological input there is to bring the FIFA World Cup to billions of fans all over the world.

"When you're back home and you watch a World Cup match on TV, you don't realise that there are thousands of people working for it, not just in the stadiums but also, and in particular, in this International Broadcast Centre, which is the epicentre of bringing the FIFA World Cup to the entire world."

Addressing some of the 2,000 broadcast media representatives who will be based at the facility for up to seven months, the FIFA President reflected on what the tournament means to fans who cannot be physically present at one of the 16 Host Cities.

"Not everyone can travel to the United States or in the past to other countries to witness the FIFA World Cup, but everyone can see it back from home thanks to the IBC and thanks to the broadcasters," he said.

"The broadcasters are absolutely crucial and I am proud as FIFA President to be presiding over an organisation which brings to the entire world the FIFA World Cup for free to fans all over the world. The broadcasters are those who make the FIFA World Cup what it is, together of course with the players who bring the show, but if there's no broadcaster, nobody can live it."

Dallas Mayor Eric L. Johnson also took to the stage to mark the occasion, expressing the city's pride at playing such a central role in the tournament.

"Today, (the IBC) officially becomes the hub of global journalism and broadcasting for the largest international sporting event in history. Dallas is prepared to serve in this unique role with world-class excellence, and in less than two weeks, every one of the billions of FIFA World Cup viewers around the globe will be watching coverage broadcast directly from here in the heart of Dallas."

The Mayor, who had personally visited the facility several days before the official opening, said that the city, which will host nine FIFA World Cup 2026™ matches, had made targeted investments to support the operation and the thousands of international visitors.

"Having toured the operations here myself a few days ago, I can attest to the cutting-edge technology, including AI and innovation, that will be transforming this facility into a world-class media hub," Johnson said.

"These engagements, highlighted by today's grand opening of the International Broadcast Center, will bring substantial economic benefits to our city, elevate Dallas' global stature, and create countless opportunities for our community.

"This is not the only critical role that Dallas will be playing in the FIFA World Cup. Our city will be hosting more FIFA World Cup matches than any other, and we will have the absolute best FIFA Fan Festival at Fair Park, along with many other fan activations taking place in and around downtown Dallas and also at Klyde Warren Park.”

The Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center was selected as the IBC for FIFA World Cup 2026 in part because of its central location across the three-nation tournament footprint, making Dallas the ideal hub for a broadcast operation spanning Canada, Mexico and the United States.

The facility spans 45,000 square metres (485,000 square feet) and will serve as headquarters for FIFA's host broadcaster and Host Broadcast Services (HBS), all FIFA Media Partners, FIFA's Video Content Production Department, FIFA's Football Technology and Innovation Department – as well as housing the video assistant referee (VAR) room.

Romy Gai, FIFA's Chief Business Officer, said that FIFA had been determined to push to new levels of broadcasting excellence.

"Four years ago, when we opened up the IBC in Qatar, our President was challenging us….and saying: 'We need to continue to push the bar as high as we can in order to remain a reference for everybody in the world in how we can deliver high-quality, our competences to all our broadcasters, to our partners.' And I am happy to say today that what you can see all around us is the result of capitalising on all our experience from the past, trying to improve and to do more in order to better serve our 180 broadcasters from all around the world."

HBS has successfully delivered broadcast services for the six most recent editions of the FIFA World Cup™, and broadcaster infrastructure is fully integrated into FIFA's stadium projects, covering camera positions, interview positions, the mixed zone, studios, media tribune, broadcast compound and press conference rooms.

A key pillar of the IBC's operation is the partnership between FIFA and Lenovo, FIFA's Official Technology Partner, which is providing complete IT solutions across the FIFA World Cup 2026 ecosystem.

Lenovo is deploying servers at the IBC in Dallas to deliver the computing power, devices and AI-driven solutions needed to bring every moment of every match to global audiences. More than 17,000 Lenovo and Motorola devices are deployed across venues and Team Base Camp training sites, supported by over 200 Lenovo engineers across all venues.

Lenovo ThinkSystem SR635 V3 servers manage massive volumes of live video data from stadiums across North America, powering FIFA's IPTV live feed via ten channels to over 1,000 screens at all FIFA venues. Lenovo's technology has also reduced latency within FIFA's IPTV infrastructure to under five seconds, enabling near real-time access to live match action.

The FIFA Chief Business Officer highlighted two specific AI-powered innovations that will enhance the broadcast experience at FIFA World Cup 2026.

The first is AI-enabled 3D player avatars, which represent a major development in semi-automated offside technology. Players will be digitally scanned on arrival – a process that takes approximately one second per player – to create precise 3D models that capture highly accurate body-part dimensions. These models will be incorporated into the host broadcast, enabling offside decisions determined by the VAR system to be displayed more realistically and in a more engaging way for fans both in stadiums and watching at home around the world.

The second innovation is a stabilised referee view. Building on a successful trial at the FIFA Club World Cup™ in 2025, AI-powered stabilisation software will smooth footage captured from the referee's camera in real time, reducing motion blur caused by rapid movement. The footage will deliver a higher-quality, first-person perspective for audiences, enhancing transparency, understanding and engagement throughout matches.

"Thanks to AI, we've introduced some innovations that will be highlighted through the broadcaster for the fans," Mr Gai said. "These are just a couple of examples. We will have more to say, more to tell."

The FIFA President also spoke of the intense and growing anticipation for the tournament itself.

"We cannot wait – I cannot wait – for the first ball to be kicked, for the first goal to be scored, for the fans coming to the stadiums, for this emotion and this passion to come to life. You can feel it in every city that everyone is looking forward to this (FIFA) World Cup to start. The teams are arriving, they play their last friendly games, their last tests, so everyone is really, really excited and everyone is looking so much forward to a spectacular FIFA World Cup."