Why World Cup 2026 host cities are taking a light approach to the year-out hype

New York Times

a day ago

A year from now, the most expansive World Cup in history will kick off on North American soil, but you might not know it from walking around through any of the 11 U.S. host cities. Any soccer-themed billboards or Instagram advertising splashes are conspicuously absent. That the World Cup is coming is no secret, but the visible signs that we're at a 12-month countdown are few and far between.
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By the time the 48 qualified teams begin their campaigns in the U.S., Mexico and Canada in 2026, the chances are that this will be the most hyped sporting event North America has ever seen. Yet despite the anticipation from soccer fans, the U.S. side has remained relatively hushed so far.
So why hasn't there been more of a push? And why did the year-out marker pass by this week with so little domestic fanfare?
'It is kind of like the Club World Cup. We did not see a lot of action around it either,' Dave Wakeman of Wakeman Consulting, a strategy firm focused on sports, told The Athletic.
There are several reasons U.S. host cities have not moved faster. For starters, many key details are still up in the air. Host cities do not know which matches they'll stage, the official draw isn't until December and unless you are eyeing premium hospitality packages that cost thousands of dollars, tickets for the general public aren't even on sale yet.
With no significant financial help from FIFA, host cities are also juggling the responsibility of finding funds they need to use for promoting the event, multiple industry insiders told The Athletic. Add in the fact that FIFA traditionally launches its own major marketing push just six to nine months before the tournament, the current silence starts to make more sense. Still, for an event of this scale, the absence of orchestrated buzz could be seen as risky.
'Think of it like the launching of a blockbuster movie,' Wakeman said. 'You want to have an action plan that builds 90-180 days out. But you need to get going now because people have to plan. You are counting on people coming from around the world, but in the current environment you have to rely on American tourists more than usual.'
But in most cases, the slow rollout appears to be a calculated move. Unlike most countries, the U.S. is saturated with major sporting events year-round, making it harder for any single tournament—even the World Cup—to dominate the spotlight. At least that's the reason one host city, San Francisco, is making sure it is using its resources efficiently.
'A year is actually a very short time before such a big event,' Zaileen Janmohamed, the president and CEO of the Bay Area Host Committee (BAHC), told The Athletic during the World Cup Host City event in New York on Monday.
'But we have a Super Bowl right before the World Cup, so we're making sure that we're prioritizing the right decisions at the right time. First we've got America's biggest game and then we have the world's biggest tournament.'
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Starting Wednesday, many host cities will kick off their 'One Year Out' activations, following San Francisco's lead. In Seattle, the countdown clock will be unveiled at the base of the Space Needle during a fan celebration featuring local soccer legends and ambassadors to drum up excitement.
Then on Sunday, which is exactly one year before Seattle hosts its first World Cup match, the host committee will team up with Seattle Reign and the Seattle Sounders to attempt a Guinness World Record for world's largest soccer clinic.
In Houston, the host committee will host an exclusive event with city officials and potential donors, featuring former USMNT captain Carlos Bocanegra. In Kansas City, the chair of the host committee board will throw out the first pitch at Wednesday night's game between the Royals and New York Yankees to mark the one-year countdown.
Despite being thoughtful about a big marketing push later in 2026, San Francisco is also planning on kicking off the marketing campaign with a plaque unveiling at the stadium with the city of Santa Clara on Wednesday, a speaking event with some of the biggest names in soccer from the Bay Area. It includes Bruce Arena, the coach of the San Jose Earthquakes, Brady Stewart of Bay FC and former USWNT legend and one of the owners of Bay FC, Aly Wagner, bringing together the soccer community in the Bay Area and will host a free and open clinic and a community festival in San Jose on Saturday for the public.
Meanwhile, in Canada and Mexico, some of their host cities are already pitching things with posters revealed in public spaces to hype soccer fans.
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But perhaps one of the most bizarre ways to kick off the World Cup promotions happened a few weeks ago in New York. For the first time ever, a professional soccer freestyler, Frankie Flo, juggled and dribbled a soccer ball through the Lincoln Tunnel, which connects New Jersey and New York, to spotlight 'the unifying power of sport and elevate community spirit,' according to the PR agency that promoted the event.
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'The Lincoln Tunnel Challenge 5K is a perfect reflection of what FIFA World Cup 26 NYNJ is all about, connecting the two great states of NY and NJ, and the entire region through athleticism, passion, and community spirit,' it read.
Of all the ways to hype the biggest sporting event in history, a freestyling influencer dribbling a ball through a fume-choked tunnel every New Yorker despises, was an interesting one.
It may have been an odd way to build buzz around the World Cup, but for organizers even a weird stunt like this signals a shift from vague hype to decisions and the beginning of the final push.
'How does it feel to be one year out? Does it make it more real? Of course!' Janmohamed explained. 'The good news is that the decisions start to get made instead of being in this phase where you're planning and thinking. We now have to make a decision, and that decision allows us to make other decisions. Understanding that the World Cup is coming next year, and I think it's actually going to be a really, really great tournament.'