FIFA 2026 World Cup

It was fantastic to be in the USA for the World Cup, so many great examples of activating cities in new spaces. Times Square in Manhattan was buzzing each night with winning and losing teams all celebrating together. Washington DC was a little more low key but gearing up for the finals and the 4th July 250 year celebrations.

There was a lot of controversy at this tournament, but the livesites were doing incredibly well and it made me think there is a lot of appetite to grow these into venues that have a live of their own. We’ve seen it work well with places that are in close proximity to the tournament, but even those that are far away can successfully curate their experience well, with the right programming.

This is especially important in a world where mega-events are more geographically distributed.