MLS clubs’ activation plans for this summer’s World Cup are taking shape, as 20 of the league’s 30 teams have announced plans to hold Soccer Celebration events in their home markets during the competition. Announcements from the remaining 10 teams are expected over the next few weeks ahead of the World Cup’s opening match on June 11.
As part of a broad relationship between MLS and Fox, U.S.-based teams and local stations will also collaborate on editorial coverage and content around the tournament. The relationship will see local stations feature MLS team personnel in coverage of the World Cup, tap into a library of World Cup-themed content created by MLS and have an on-site presence at team-run events.
While clubs are managing efforts in their own markets, the Soccer Celebration events are part of a league-wide initiative to tie the league and its clubs to the World Cup experience. MLS negotiated with FIFA and Fox for the rights to publicly screen as many matches as clubs are interested in showing and ensuring teams could work with sponsors to help fund their efforts.
“We designed a process with them and followed it over the course of, I’d say, probably eight months, that then allowed our clubs to do things in the right way in compliance with FIFA and help subsidize the cost of putting together these enormous events,” MLS Chief Business Officer Camilo Durana said.
The key to complying with FIFA’s guidelines, Durana said, is making sure that brands that compete with official sponsors are not presented “in any way [that] associates them with the World Cup or insinuates a relationship with the World Cup.”
The events being put on by MLS teams vary widely in scale, with some hosting watch parties for select matches and others staying open daily for the duration of the 39-day tournament. Notable experiences announced thus far include the Sounders’ floating watch party on Elliott Bay in Seattle, the Houston Dynamo’s expansive experience adjacent to the city’s official FIFA Fan Festival and tournament-long watch events put on by the Fire, San Diego FC, Earthquakes and Orlando City.
