Crowd count: Oranje Army rallied 36,000+ fans for downtown Kansas City fanwalk

A fanwalk midday Thursday saw legions of Netherlands supporters march from downtown Kansas City to Crown Center — likely besting similar “Oranje Army” fan parades this month ahead of earlier World Cup matches in Texas, according to beacon technology from a Kansas City-based crowd-tracking startup.

Netherlands fans crowd around the KC Streetcar stop outside Union Station in hopes of gaining access to FIFA Fan Festival on the grounds of Liberty Memorial; photo by Tommy Felts, Startland News

The orange-clad crowd across the downtown area peaked at 36,496 people at about 12:45 p.m., just before gates were expected to open at FIFA Fan Festival at the National World War I Museum, said Jonathan Ruiz, co-founder of EB Systems, alongside Brendan Waters.

“The fanwalk had similar energy to past Chiefs parades, but was much more interactive,” said Ruiz, whose company uses mobile apps, proximity-based sensors and wearable Bluetooth devices to create real-time location, reporting, and alerting systems. Collected data typically is paired with brands or municipalities that can analyze it to learn more about customer trends and engagement.

RELATED: KC startup’s tech deployed at all FIFA Fan Festivals, stadiums to measure World Cup impact

“You could watch and cheer or decide to march along with the group if you wanted,” Ruiz said, sharing his own observations from the fanwalk that stretched up Grand Avenue from the Power & Light District to East Pershing Road. “Along with the data we captured along the Oranje route, we saw a lift in activity in Crossroads and City Market where we collect daily pedestrian and traffic data.”

A young Netherland fan parades past the T-Mobile Center in the Power & Light District during an Oranje Army fanwalk to Crown Center; photo by Nikki Overfelt Chifalu, Startland News

Thousands of Netherlands fans pack the Live! Block at Power & Light ahead of a massive fanwalk to Crown Center; photo by Tommy Felts, Startland News

Fans began gathering early Thursday in the Power & Light District, drawing a massive crowd at the Live! Block ahead of the fanwalk.

EB Systems ran a mesh of beacons across the parade route and throughout downtown, Ruiz said. As people moved through the area, its network counted the crowd around them in real time — no tickets, no turnstiles, no app to download, he noted.

“I was actually on the ground, walking up and down the parade route with a beacon in my backpack supplementing the data we were collecting from our other stationary beacons throughout downtown and Fan Fest,” Ruiz said.

The 36,496 total is calibrated against a count taken on the ground at the Fan Fest entrance, Ruiz said, so it reflects the real crowd, not just the devices EB Systems’ beacons saw. (Thursday’s Fan Fest ultimately was canceled because of impending storms hitting the region, though the Netherlands game Thursday night against Tunisia was expected to continue as scheduled.)

That total for Kansas City is far higher than projections released before the event, which suggested between 7,000 and 22,000 fans could show up downtown for the fanwalk. Media reports indicate the Orange Army parades earlier in June in Dallas and Houston drew about 6,000 and 20,000 fans, respectively.

EB Systems — which also has deployed its beacons at all FIFA Fan Festivals and stadiums this summer — affirms a trend shown at high-profile events like the Kansas City Chiefs’ victory parades, Ruiz said.

“This data proves that KC shows up,” he said. “If the organizers and local businesses fully lean into what’s happening around town and get the word out, KC will show up for them too.”

Check out an Oranje Army fanwalk photo gallery by Startland News’ Tommy Felts and Nikki Overfelt Chifalu.