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LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - JUNE 12: United States fans cheer at the FIFA Fan Festival at LA Memorial Coliseum after the US scored their first goal against Paraguay on June 12, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. This is the first game for the United States in FIFA World Cup 2026 and Los Angeles is hosting 8 matches during the global tournament. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
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Note: Patrick Pierce, the founder of Frédy, a global sports business consultancy, provided exclusive research and analysis for this article.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup is in full swing, and sports fans are having a moment with goals galore.
A calendar this full of matches is a reminder that the sports marketplace has never been more saturated and structurally complex. While fans still book fights, attend games, and cheer on their teams, gone are the days when ticket sales alone led to financial success or failure. According to the Swiss School of Business and Management Geneva, this year’s FIFA World Cup will “influence global business strategies [and] shape urban development” largely because of corporate partnerships and other non-ticket revenue indicators.
The sports industry relies more on advertising and broadcasting rights than in-person fan attendance. By 2030, the sports sponsorship market is expected to surpass $109 billion, as new entrants buy into the hoopla. There is no shortage of potential partners and emerging categories: Frontier AI labs, sports betting companies, and streaming giants are all attaching their respective brands to fan favorites.
But sports sponsorship, when lacking a commercial strategy, remains a risky bet. Fans are wary of “the business side” corrupting the on-court or on-field product. In North America, 70% of all corporate sponsorship money goes to sports, but many companies don’t have a system in place to comprehensively measure return on investment.
If the industry gets it wrong, fans may forgive, but they won’t forget. According to the latest research from Outward Intelligence, barely 28% of U.S. consumers believe that brands often or always get alignment right when it comes to sports sponsorship. While over 50% of consumers report improved brand perception when a partnership aligns with their interests, a “poor fit” carries a significant penalty, with nearly 40% of respondents reporting a more negative view of the brand.
Fandom isn’t as unconditional as we tend to think. Botched branding or sponsorship activation can quickly lead to disillusionment and disengagement.
Sponsorship effectiveness is no longer a matter of simple reach; it is dictated by the precision of sponsorship fit, which acts as a primary driver of brand equity. If it is unclear why two brands are going into business together, there will be no boost in engagement or excitement. Nor will there be ROI.
Positive brand lift is highly conditional. More than half of America’s audience rewards brands only when they sponsor events or organizations that are already liked or loved. Jumping on the bandwagon of existing fandom is doable, but building fandom from scratch is another matter entirely. That’s where brands are bound to struggle, as we are watching in real time with LIV’s failure to compete against the PGA Tour.
Diving into public opinion, brands can find valuable opportunities for ROI. For example, state and local pride brings untapped potential for sponsors and partners. While national pride is polarized, nearly two-thirds of consumers maintain a solid, positive connection to their local community. State-level identity provides a potent middle ground for engagement, with about 44% of respondents feeling very or extremely proud of their state. Smart brands don’t try to create feelings of loyalty or devotion to “hometown” sports; they tap into the passion that already runs deep.
The smartest brands also recognize demographic nuance and act accordingly. Younger consumers are more likely to notice sponsorships and amplify them through word-of-mouth or social media chatter. While nearly 70% of Boomers object to amplifying brand sponsorships, Millennials represent the high-water mark for partnership ROI, leading age brackets in both noticing sponsorships (38.7%) and the intent to amplify them socially (42.5%). Gen Z isn’t too far behind.
The market for sports sponsorship is booming, and that won’t change in the years ahead. But not everyone is a winner. To leverage fandom into financial success, brands need to know how fans—all fans—think in the first place. And that means listening to them.
This article was originally published on Forbes.com
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