The FIFA World Cup 2026 is not even over, yet its ripple effects within the marketing space are beginning to be felt.
Just as it takes years of preparation by both teams and host cities to be ready for the biannual tournament, marketers have to get certain campaign elements in place as well as anticipate what may happen to be ready for the unexpected.
At the ADWEEK House Sports Summit in New York City, the World Cup and the many lessons learned from the successful tournament was the hot topic at the Marketing at Match Speed session, moderated by ADWEEK editor in chief Ryan Joe and featuring a squad of panelists: Chaucer Barnes, CMO at Translation; Amanda Calabrese, co-counder and CMO at Sequel; Radhika Duggal, SVP & CMO at Major League Soccer; Adam Lynn, co-founder and CEO at Breakaway; and Laura Petro, VP of brand and fan experience at Gotham FC.
Duggal said when it comes to live entertainment, many of the elements surrounding a campaign are controllable, “especially if you’re thoughtful and methodical.” This type of preparation ahead of time leaves for, what she says, “mind space and the ability to be thoughtful around all the elements that arise in the moment.”
Another theme associated with preparation during the session was capturing and exploiting the moment. Duggal spoke about how MLS worked closely with FIFA and Fox Sports months in advance to set up World Cup viewing parties. This type of association provided visibility for the league during this off-period and ensured that the soccer league remained in conversation even though it had no live offerings.
Petro shared the example of how her team and the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) fed off the World Cup vibes to create a historical moment. With their home stadium used for World Cup viewing festivities, Petro and Gotham FC decided to channel the tournament’s buzz for their own benefit.
Working in concert with Citi Field, home of the New York Mets baseball team, Petro and her team set an NWSL record by staging the highest-attended women’s sporting event in New York City history. With Citi Field hosting the match the same day as the second World Cup semifinal, Gotham FC was able to feed off the energy and awareness from the earlier match to drive attendance for its night-time match.
Barnes provided a historical anecdote about how advance planning by audio brand Beats during an NBA All-Star Weekend in Toronto in 2016 led to the creation of the reality show The Shop, which was later popularized by LeBron James and picked up by HBO.
A weekend with frigid temperatures made moving around unappealing and celebrity appearances sporadic. Additionally, Beats’ activation was not directly tied to the NBA. With this knowledge in hand, Barnes and his team built a 72-hour roundtable scenario in preparation for the celebrities to stop by when they were available. The set was not too far from the main action, and the cameras were running the entire time. They also brought three identical pairs of clothes for the host to maintain continuity of the show.
