The World Cup offered countless opportunities for human connection, which is exactly what the tournament should be about. Long after the final whistle, and long after Spain lifted the trophy, it’ll be the experiences around the event that leave a lasting impression.
The host countries have fallen for soccer in a big way: U.S. World Cup-related experiences have more than quadrupled versus the 2022 tournament in Qatar, according to Eventbrite data. Full disclosure: My team at Sparks had a front-row seat to this shift. We were the connective tissue pulling together fan experience programming across seven of the 11 U.S. venues this summer. So what did we notice resonating with audiences throughout this year’s tournament?
Play and parties
First up — and perhaps a little unexpectedly — is Lego. It provided fan zones within stadiums in all three host countries, the U.S., Mexico and Canada, where kids and adults got their photos taken, played with figurines of star players and saw models of the trophy. This ties in with the film via W+K Amsterdam in which famous footballers build a Lego World Cup trophy that’s finished off by a kid. The cherry on the cake for all these activations is a giant World Cup trophy made out of 1.3 million Lego bricks that is currently standing proud in the Rockefeller Center.
Adidas and Nike have also understood the power of IRL activations. Adidas Home of Soccer popped up in L.A., New York, Toronto, Atlanta and Houston, inviting fans along to watch parties for matches and then entertaining them afterward with appearances from musicians including Pink Pantheress. Crucially, these free activations have been anchored to each individual city’s soccer culture rather than taking a cookie-cutter approach and replicating an identical experience. That’s been fundamental to their appeal.
Meanwhile Nike teamed up with retail partner The Shoe Palace to host The Corner Kick, a similar offering in L.A., where the focus has squarely been on soccer culture, with DJ sets and foosball to keep fans entertained between games.
Be there for the trials and tribulations
What really hit home with this World Cup was when brands grasped that the World Cup isn’t all about the moments on the pitch; it’s also about the highs and lows in between matches, when emotions are real and you can really connect with audiences.
Uber understood this perfectly. The ride-hailing app introduced a range of initiatives in-house, including “Sorry for Your (Team’s) Loss.” This gives supporters of losing teams discounts on their Uber rides home, providing Uber-branded tissue packs for tearful fans lamenting their team’s ejection from the tournament. It’s a brilliant example of a brand being there not for the moments of glory, but for the gut-wrenching trials and tribulations of supporting the beautiful game.
Local customs, global stage
Some of the most delightful and memorable moments from this World Cup have come from specific countries’ customs and traditions.
Cast your mind back to the start of the World Cup and the unforgettable effect that the Scottish fans had when they landed in the U.S. After Scotland’s 28-year absence from the World Cup, The Tartan Army’s occupation of Boston and Miami included the ancient Scottish tradition of placing traffic cones on statues, such over-zealous beer drinking that Boston’s bars and pubs ran dry, and treating unsuspecting Americans to regular enthusiastic blasts on the bagpipes.
Norway’s Viking row, which saw Norwegian fans in the stands of stadiums enthusiastically rowing, quickly became one of the most endearing and viral sights of the tournament. When Norway qualified for the quarterfinals, fans in Oslo and Bergen rowed so loudly and energetically as they celebrated that seismologists recorded an earthquake.
Norway’s striker Erling Haaland told reporters: “Seeing thousands rowing with you ... gives you goosebumps.”
And The World Cup of Personal Branding Goes To …
Haaland has performed an exceptional job in building his own brand during the tournament. The Manchester City player has grown his Instagram following from 40 million to 60 million during the World Cup; his Reels have been viewed more than 683 million times since the start of the tournament. Unafraid to poke fun at himself, Haaland has embraced his time in the U.S., shopping for cowboy hats in Texas and praising Americans. Google jumped on the Haaland bandwagon: Put his name into Google and a string of Norwegian vikings start rowing across your screen.
When experience steals the show
This World Cup has shown brands the power of investing in activations — often at a local level — that are both meaningful and memorable. Despite the exponential growth of the creator economy, some of the tournament’s standout content didn’t come from paid creators. It came from the grassroots. It grabbed attention. It resonated. And it enhanced the fan experience. Watching that infrastructure get built this summer only reinforced it: The brands that win aren’t just showing up with a footprint; they’re showing up inside an experience that’s been made to feel whole.
There’s an evergreen lesson in there for brands, both for huge global sporting tournaments and outside of them.
Melissa Levy is president at experiential agency Sparks.
