Bars in Kansas will be serving alcohol almost every hour of the day during the World Cup thanks to a bold new agreement signed off by lawmakers.
Ahead of this summer’s international soccer festival, which is being held in the US, Mexico and Canada, Missouri lawmakers passed legislation giving its municipalities the option to extend alcohol service for 23 hours of each day, and now neighboring state Kansas has followed suit.
The new law allows bars and restaurants to take advantage of World Cup fan trade and serve alcohol from 6am to 5am between June 11 and July 19, with thousands expected to descend upon Kansas for the tournament.
Kansas City is the home to four countries’ World Cup bases this summer – England, Argentina, the Netherlands and Algeria – while it will also stage four group-stage matches as well as a round of 32 and quarterfinal tie.
The other teams heading to the city for group-stage outings are Austria, Curacao, Ecuador and Tunisia, meaning it will host at least eight different nations throughout the competition.
Bars in Kansas will be serving alcohol almost every hour of the day during the World Cup
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Kansas bars have welcomed the prospect of extended alcohol service, which have been debated and voted through several local districts in recent weeks. However, they are only able to introduce it if their county or municipality opts in.
‘Most importantly, I think it’s a big deal because Missouri’s already got that passed, and for anybody close to the state line like we are, we just want a fair chance to compete,’ Brian Schorgl, who owns O’Neill’s Bar and Restaurant in Leawood, told Fox4 Morning News.
Schorgl’s bar is just down the road from the $270-a-night hotel where England will be staying this summer.
‘They’re not coming here to do anything, but I think soccer, and soccer is going to be on all the time. So people are going to want to go to pubs and bars to watch soccer,’ he added.
‘We’re not going to be the 4am place. But there are games that start at nine in the morning, and our liquor license allows us to start serving at nine. But if we could open a little bit before 8:00, that would be great,’ Schorgl explained.
‘There’s also some later games, and we might expand our hours a little bit for that as well.’
