• by Maarten Albarda , Featured Contributor, June 12, 2026

The 2026 FIFA World Cup is officially live across North America, and the soccer hype machine is operating at peak capacity. Six billion projected viewers. The largest tournament in human history. An economic windfall for the ages.

In absolute terms, U.S. ad spend for this tournament is projected to break every record in the book. Total U.S. broadcast ad revenue across Fox Sports and Telemundo is expected to more than double vs the 2022 World Cup, ballooning to an estimated $850 million, compared to the $282 million spent during the 2022 World Cup.

But if you look away from the pitch, a completely different story is unfolding. It's a story of operational mishaps, extreme sticker shock, and a massive disconnect between global boardroom expectations and actual consumer reality.

Let’s start with the empty beds. Hoteliers across the country were expecting a historic tourism gold rush where they could essentially charge whatever they wanted. Instead? They’re staring at empty rooms and plummeting rates. According to data from the American Hotel & Lodging Association, up to 90% of hoteliers in major host markets like Kansas City report bookings are tracking well below expectations. In some host cities, FIFA quietly invoked clauses to cancel roughly 70% of its contracted group room blocks.

Then there’s the sheer madness around ticket prices. Fans are experiencing brutal sticker shock: Prime seats for the final were listed at tens of thousands of dollars, completely pricing out the everyday fan base.

It’s gotten so messy that several U.S. state regulators have launched consumer protection investigations into deceptive pricing and bait-and-switch seating chart changes. To make matters worse, a massive payment processing glitch mistakenly issued "free" tickets right before kickoff, forcing FIFA to abruptly cancel them and spark a furious public relations nightmare. And on top of that, there was further outrage over public transport pricing of up to 300% above normal prices in some U.S. host cities, even though public transport was offered as free during the bid process.

And then there is the research that shows most Americans just don’t care.

Fresh data from Fifty5Blue (formerly Kantar Media) and YouGov shows that, despite playing host, only 10% of Americans follow or have a genuine interest in the World Cup. That puts U.S. engagement right at the absolute bottom of the global barrel, sitting just above Japan. If your brand activation was built on a broad-based, coast-to-coast wave of domestic soccer hysteria, well… I guess “darn” may be a PG acceptable response.

Recent research from Gartner highlights that 84% of CMOs are currently struggling to prove ROI or quantify the value of their sports sponsorships. Many marketing teams chase meaningless vanity metrics like “sponsor recognition” or “most popular commercial.”

Too many companies threw nine-figure sums at FIFA out of pure corporate FOMO. But it looks like an expensively produced video is going to be an overpriced vehicle to interrupt an indifferent crowd.

What do winning marketers do? They focus heavily on old-school, localized brand activation. They use sponsorship assets for what still works: premium hospitality, exclusive VIP experiences for your key vendors, and direct value for their most critical business partners. And most importantly, they build activations that live inside the fan experience, and the number one experience is “being there.”  Fans can’t afford to be there -- so give them an opportunity to win tickets or experience fan fests.

I’m sure I will enjoy the World Cup for the sport. As a marketer, I’m not so sure.