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As mentioned in the previous newsletter, On Location, selected by FIFA as the exclusive hospitality provider, will offer the largest hospitality program in sports history. On Location has been at the forefront of curated luxury experiences by expanding its reach from Super Bowl packages to securing a $1.3 billion deal with the IOC for the next three Olympic Games. I found an article that goes into more details about the ambitions of FIFA and On Location.

Most interesting to me was that out of the 7 million tickets available for the tournament, 1 million will be part of premium hospitality packages which will include curated experiences and offerings for each host city. I must admit, I was nervous that a higher percentage of tickets to 2026 would be part of the hospitality packages.

It was also interesting to read in the same article that the 2023-2026 cycle is projected to generate $3.1 billion from hospitality rights and ticket sales, surpassing the $949 million earned from the 2019-2022 cycle.

I also noted that On Location said prices & details are yet to be determined; however, packages for the 2026 World Cup are likely to go on sale by the end of the year. The use of “likely” is slightly different phrasing than on FIFA’s website and there’s only a few more months left to hit that goal…

Personal experience: I was fortunate to receive tickets at Qatar 2022 for one match in the least expensive hospitality package. It included a gift (pictured below) + food/beverages before & after the match.

Lastly - if you’re interested in working with On Location for 2026, they’re accepting profiles as they look to hire up.

I’ve already received inquiries about FIFA Fan Fests for 2026. Those that are unfamiliar, the host cities will each have a venue that becomes the focal point for fans to gather and watch matches and celebrate the sport. It’s essentially an outdoor watch party with entertainment between matches.

Here’s the official FIFA page about the fan fests. I’ll post more details once venues are announced (hosts are still hiring to operate these).

The Fan Fests can be incredible (hello, Brazil 2014) but do know they can also be overwhelming with long lines for overpriced and underwhelming food & drink, with options limited by sponsors. Check out these FIFA videos from 2018 and 2022 to get an idea on fan fest potential.

Stay tuned for more as information gets announced…

Remember the riff between Stan Kroenke and FIFA and the field dimensions of SoFi Stadium? Well, that seems to be completely in the past. SoFi Stadium recently went through some renovations that resulted in expanding its field by replacing concrete sections with removable seating, allowing FIFA's required dimensions. These changes won’t (currently) be noticeable until it hosts the first match of 2026, the highly anticipated first U.S. game. SoFi Stadium will also get a test run with a natural grass surface in 2025.

Interested in learning more about the $5B (😳) stadium? This YouTube video from TechVision gives you a tour on all the details.

A recent Reddit thread questions if the tickets seen on platforms like StubHub are legit. The short answer is no, these are not legit.

You can also read our snippet on 3rd party tickets and how FIFA controls the resale market. That said, it will be very interesting to see how this operates in at least USA, where it’s a normal practice for people to purchase tickets with the only intention to resell them at obscenely high values for profit. Needless to say, FIFA does a decent job of making this quite difficult and the community (typically) buys into the idea (for lack of better phrase).

World Cup 2026 resumes again for South America and Asia this month, September 2024, while Oceania kicks off its campaign as nations battle for the confederation’s first ever guaranteed 1 slot to the party. You can catch up quickly below.

I’m going to briefly deviate from my usual fact-filled curation details and bring you into a Paris Olympics inspired brain-wire.

Wouldn’t it be amazing if the less heralded versions of footie where showcased simultaneously in one global spectacle in the off year between Olympics and the Men’s + Women’s World Cup? Versions like:

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