The Orange Army — fans of the Netherlands national team — took over Arlington's cultural district yesterday, turning the usual home of baseball and football into a sea of soccer fans.

• It was the start of a six-hour party that began near Choctaw Stadium and continued inside Dallas Stadium.

Why it matters: Soccer is uniting people across borders.

• South Korea and Mexico fans danced together in Guadalajara, Mexico, over the weekend, even though the teams are set to play each other on Thursday.

State of play: Roughly 69,000 people attended Dallas Stadium's first World Cup match yesterday, just short of the stadium's 70,649 capacity for matches.

• Wearing blue, the Japan team's fans stood, clapped and chanted along the beat of a drum for most of the match. Some had painted their faces to resemble the Japanese flag.
• Fans of the Dutch team brought their own chants, bright orange gear and double-decker buses.
• The game ended in a 2-2 draw.

The intrigue: The match also attracted Mexico fans and their "No era penal" chants, referencing a 2014 loss to the Netherlands in the Round of 16.

What they're saying: "We don't have this big of a stadium in Japan. It's my first time at the World Cup, and it's amazing," Taiga Kato, a 21-year-old fan visiting North Texas for the first time, told Axios.

• Rita Berkvens, who moved to the U.S. from Holland in 1993, drove from East Texas to attend the orange fanwalk with her family. She planned to watch the game at Texas Live!
• "I love it — It unites people again. And then your heritage comes back," Berkvens said.

What's next: Dallas Stadium hosts England and Croatia on Wednesday.

The Texas power grid may experience record electricity demand this summer, per ERCOT.

Why it matters: The demand will test the state's power grid during peak summer heat as electricity use from data centers, crypto operations and other large customers continues to rise.

State of power: ERCOT cited a projected warmer summer than last year and "significant load growth" as the reasons for the record-breaking forecast.

• Crypto farm developers have added about 470 MW of demand to the grid since September 2025, per ERCOT, which expects other large users like data centers to add 1,730 MW in demand through September.

By the numbers: The grid's load is estimated to peak around 92,200 megawatts this summer, system operations vice president Dan Woodfin told board directors last week.

• That's compared with the previous record summer peak of about 85,500 MW in 2023. Summer demand peaked at 83,700 MW in 2025.

What they're saying: ERCOT says it's prepared for the sweltering summer with enhanced contingency efforts and better tools for monitoring and responding to real-time emergencies.

🗳️ Frisco elected a new mayor over the weekend. Business attorney Mark Hill defeated Rod Vilhauer, who had criticized the city's growing Muslim and South Asian populations during his campaign. (Star Local Media)

🥅 The Dallas Stars' Jason Robertson was named a first-team NHL All-Star for 2025-26. (DMN)

🫵 The Texas GOP held its biennial convention in Houston, where party leaders urged unity ahead of the midterm elections. (Texas Tribune)

👋🏽 Naheed here. I am one of the more casual soccer fans, tuning into the World Cup every four years and losing interest after the U.S. gets eliminated.

• The tournament feels more personal this year because of its proximity to us.

Driving the news: I joined some friends at Cosm at Grandscape on Friday night to watch the U.S. team's 2026 World Cup debut.

• Cosm is like an IMAX on steroids, with a large LED screen that shows games from the perspective of seats at the venues where they are being played.

Yes, but: We paid $12 for general admission instead of shelling out over $100 for seats in front of the venue's dome.

Vibe check: The indoor venue had several large screens for the GA crowd, with a mix of tables, couches and standing areas.

• After posing for free trading cards, we walked around to see how the game looked from the dome seating. For a short while, we forgot we were in Texas.

Zoom out: Cosm is showing dozens of matches this summer.

Other watch parties