The ’26 FIFA World Cup and ’28 Games are heading to North America, and sports marketers are already gearing up for the global events with an eye towards building fan engagement and excitement over the coming years. That said, how heavily can brands truly invest in events of this magnitude when they are still almost a decade away? Octagon President of Marketing & Events John Shea during the opening panel of the '18 Octagon Sports Marketing Symposium said, "No CFO wakes up saying, 'How am I going to spend my marketing budget in 10 years?' But they already know these are great opportunities to grow their business.” Shea’s comments were echoed by other panelists, with Coca-Cola VP/Global Sports & Entertainment Partnerships Ricardo Fort saying the “tricky part” for brands will be in choosing when to ramp up activation for each event. Fort: “When do the events become relevant for consumers? When will brands become interested in talking about this? When is the right time for a sponsor to start communicating?” IOC VP/Marketing Development Christian Voigt stressed that U.S. sports fans will embrace each event quickly as they get closer on the calendar and they will not feel oversaturated by the events coming so close to each other from a timing perspective. Voigt: “Don’t underestimate the U.S. fan. … There’s no other country where people are used to rooting for several sports at the same time.” Fort said in regards to the ’26 World Cup, which will be staged across the U.S., Canada and Mexico, “As a sponsor I have probably another 100 events before I get to that one. A lot of sponsors are busy with other things, it’s not yet a conversation.”
PLAN YOUR WORK, WORK YOUR PLAN: Despite the agreement in terms of when to start investing in each event over the coming years, the panel quickly agreed that the brands that start their grassroots efforts earlier than most will see success when ’26 and ’28 finally arrive, especially if they have limited experience in the soccer space. United Bid Exec Dir and President of Premier Partnerships John Kristick said soccer in the U.S. "has always been difficult as a brand to put your arms around." Kristick: "You never really had a catalyst. The World Cup is that. It’s working from the bottom up.” Fort touched on Olympic marketing, saying the brands that started investing consistently in the Games in years past are the “ones that people remember today.” Fort: "The brands that succeeded (in Rio in '16) were the ones that built association over time. For the brands that want to be involved in the '26 World Cup, they need to start thinking about how to build a connection with the sport today.” Shea: “The sponsors who get the most out of their partnerships are the ones that have a comprehensive plan. Brands ultimately control their own destiny.” In regards to LA28, Shea said prospective sponsors “need to know your long-term business plan and then evaluate against that.” Asked whether certain companies -- unlike Coca-Cola and Visa -- will have to choose whether to throw their weight behind either the World Cup or LA28, Kristick said, “At the top, brands will have to decide which one, but that doesn’t mean they won’t find other ways to attach themselves to the other event. … There’s more than enough room."
QUICK HITS:
* Will brands worry about the U.S.’ economic standing down the line when it comes to the World Cup and United Games? Shea: “I don’t think anything’s recession proof, but long range business plans are built with a good economic base in mind.”
* Kristick said the uniqueness of having 16 World Cup host cites will give brands a chance to “weigh how and when they’ll use soccer in their marketing mix in North America in a primary way.” Kristick: “That could be transformational. From that standpoint, brands will only see more and more opportunities.”
* Voigt on the Olympic Channel: “It changed our mindset. At the IOC, the fan was always kind of taken for granted. ... We hadn’t ever directly spoken to them. We’re getting in touch with what they like and what they don’t like.”
* Fort, on the possibility of Salt Lake City being in the mix for the ’26 Games, meaning the U.S. would host two Olympics and a World Cup in about a 26 month-span: “If there’s anyone who can handle it, it’s the U.S. I can speak to that, being Brazilian."
