Guarding the World Cup cost the Dallas Police Department about $6.1 million in overtime, a department spokesman confirmed to NBC 5 Investigates, which obtained the department's overtime records through open records requests and reported the figures Thursday.
The bigger question now is who ends up paying. Police told the station they expect Dallas taxpayers to be repaid through a federal program set up for host cities. The North Central Texas Council of Governments, which is helping local departments file their claims, described that process to NBC 5 as complicated and slow.
Where the hours went
Across the two tournament months, overtime spending topped $14 million, roughly $6.6 million above the same two months a year earlier, according to the records. Officers worked security at the fan festival at Fair Park and at the tournament's international broadcast center, and they ran motorcades for team buses and visiting dignitaries.
Those motorcades appear to have been the single largest expense. The traffic unit, which handles motorcycle escorts, topped all other units with more than $1.1 million in overtime across June and July. SWAT, which often handles security and dignitary protection, was close behind at a little over $1 million.
A sharp drop in August
Spending fell quickly once the matches ended. Overtime for Aug. 1 through 25 came to about $2.4 million, the records show, under half the department's August 2025 total.
