Sarah Dawson
EVP and Managing Director, Brands & Properties UK | THE·TEAM
This year’s FIFA Men’s World Cup will look and feel fundamentally different from anything that has come before. Three host nations, 48 teams and, for European audiences, kick-off times that push much of the live action into the twilight hours.
What has long been a shared, real-time cultural moment will become something more personal: caught up on over coffee, during the morning commute, or via a scroll through your social feed. The World Cup reimagined as a morning digest.
That shift changes the rules for partners, platforms and players. In our breakfast event hosted together with the European Sponsorship Association, we explored what that means and how to win. Here are five key takeaways:
Social first, live second
In Europe, this will not be a purely live-first World Cup. With 104 matches squeezed into just 39 days, and younger audiences already shifting from live viewing to short-form highlights, the tournament will be a time-shifted cultural moment, played out largely on social and on demand. The device so often described as the “second screen” will, for this tournament, become the primary consumption device.
As a result, relevance will be earned less by reacting fastest to the live moment, and more by owning what comes after the 90 minutes. Assume your audience already knows the score and design content for the catch-up culture, focusing on context and emotion, not just the result. Win by creating, not commentating.
The brands and platforms that thrive will shape the narrative that follows, delivering personalised, snackable content in the daytime moments when fans connect.
Stories over scores
This World Cup is more diverse than ever. Uzbekistan, Jordan, Cape Verde and Curaçao make their tournament debuts, whilst Haiti and the Democratic Republic of Congo each return after a 52-year hiatus. In an attention economy, the real opportunity lies as much in the stories as in the scorelines.
Stats and highlights are available everywhere, in real time. What makes your brand stand out from the rest is the ability to turn the tournament into wider culture: telling human stories about players, nations and fans to build connection.
Treat the World Cup not just as a sporting event, but as a shared cultural platform, prioritising meaning over volume, and authentic voices over white noise.
Value add over ad value
For those who do tune in live, FIFA’s built-in cool breaks will add 624 minutes to the tournament, which is equivalent to over 10 hours of in-game scroll time, where fans will naturally reach for their phones.
Blessing or curse? Fans are wary, and weary, of over-commercialisation. Brands must tread carefully, ensuring activity enhances rather than disrupts the viewing experience.
Simple ads and forced visibility won’t cut it. Do it well, however, by delivering content that adds genuine value, and it becomes a rare opportunity to build connection and conversation. Participation, not promotion, will be the winning formula.
Global scale, local relevance
More than five billion people tune into the World Cup, making it the biggest global platform in sport. But fandom is deeply local, tied to both personal identity and culture. Relevance is found in those subcultures.
Brands that deploy talent, creators and influencers who already have fans’ trust will bring local resonance to global campaigns, which is crucial in a tournament experienced across fragmented communities. Those who cut through won’t try to speak to everyone. They’ll focus on landing a message with specific subcultures in mind.
Putting the World back into the World Cup
While the spotlight falls on the 48 competing teams, the bigger and often overlooked opportunity lies in the 163 nations beyond them. From global powerhouses like China and India to football-obsessed markets like Nigeria and Italy, millions of fans will watch from the outside looking in.
For brands, that creates a different challenge: how to add value for audiences experiencing the tournament with a mix of distance, disappointment and irresistible pull.
Don’t just activate around who’s playing. Consider those who aren’t, finding culturally appropriate and imaginative ways to ensure every market feels part of football’s biggest moment.
- THE·TEAM co-hosted an ESA Breakfast on 19 March entitled Sponsorship & Fan Engagement in a Twilight World Cup. ESA Members can click here to view a recording of the event.
