Brands are catching World Cup fever even without official sponsorships

But not all brands will pour millions of dollars into official sponsorships. Some smaller U.S. startups, like Crumbl Cookies and Olipop, are getting into the spirit of the World Cup with watch parties, soccer-themed products and more, taking advantage of their proximity to matches to get in on what will perhaps be the biggest cultural moment of the year. With millions of tourists descending on North America in the coming month, brand executives feel like they have to find a way into this moment.

According to a new Bank of America Global Research report, the 2026 World Cup is set to be the biggest to date, with 75% of the world set to engage with the event in some way. “Sectors best positioned to benefit from the World Cup include beverages, sportswear, restaurants, broadcasting, social media and online betting,” the report said.

This year’s tournament, which runs from June 11 to July 19, will include a record 104 games hosted across the United States, Canada and Mexico. That gives brands a substantial window of opportunity to host a variety of experiential marketing concepts.

For Crumbl Cookies, this year’s World Cup comes at an opportune moment. The multinational franchise company got its start in Utah, but in recent years has expanded into Canada and now has over a dozen locations throughout the country. It is also set to open its first location in Mexico City — which will host five World Cup matches — sometime this summer.

“It is pretty hard to work your way into actually being a sponsor,” Crumbl co-founder Sawyer Hemsley said. “So we thought, ‘What better way to participate than through our product development?'”

Crumbl is already known for its limited-edition flavors, so releasing a line of flavors inspired by the soccer tournament was a no-brainer. On June 7, Crumbl released a set of limited-edition flavors inspired by the three host countries; flavors include an American brownie sundae cookie and a tangy mango cookie, which the company created in collaboration with Tajín. The cookie bundles will be available through July 18.

Crumbl tried to experiment with concepts that will ring true with soccer fans. One of the more unique flavors in the collection is Crumbl’s blue raspberry sports drink cookie, which Hemsley expects to create a lot of buzz online and in stores.

“Obviously wanted to do the official Powerade sports drink, but they unfortunately don’t allow their mixes in food or dessert,” Hemsley said. Instead, Crumbl created a flavor inspired by the famous hydration drink. “We’ve never done something like that before. It’s going to cause a lot of curiosity.” 

Along with the in-store soccer cookies takeover, Hemsley said the company is focusing on promoting the flavors drop with extensive social media promos. “We’ll be doing fun things online through our social strategy,” he said, like running polls to gauge what flavors and country profiles rate the highest.

“It will ebb and flow because social moments have to be watched every day, and our team is constantly brainstorming on how to engage,” Hemsley said. “We’ll also be changing our website and app visuals to mimic the soccer theme.”

“Crumbl already has a super fan base,” Hemsley said. “We hope these cookies are going to create a few more new ones.”

Giveaways are proving to be another popular tactic that many startups are embracing. Prince St. Pizza gave fans a chance to win highly coveted match tickets with the purchase of every slice. The pizza chain ran a “Slice to Win” World Cup ticket giveaway from May 4 through early June across its Los Angeles, Dallas and Miami markets. The company also leveraged the giveaway to promote its loyalty program, giving customers five entries for signing up and three entries for referring a friend.

Other brands are also leaning into soccer fever with in-real-life activations, in anticipation of the fact that both tourists and locals will want to turn out for watch parties.

Throughout the tournament, functional soda brand Olipop will be sponsoring a 30-day-long block party and activation in downtown Dallas, a World Cup host city this summer. According to the company, fans can gather to watch matches from mid-June to mid-July. The activation will include an Olipop “Feel Good” soda bar and custom-branded patches for jersey making.

To coincide with the viewing events, Olipop is running an out-of-home campaign from June to August in two host cities, Miami and Los Angeles, with placements near stadiums and downtown hotel areas.

Tara Piper, senior vp of marketing at Olipop, told Modern Retail that the World Cup is one of those cultural moments where soda is a natural fit, given that many game-day gatherings will be taking place during the summer heat.

The activation is timed to the World Cup, but it also coincides with Olipop’s newly launched rebrand, with the tagline The Feel Good Soda. Piper said the new creatives promote the brand’s mission to bring better-for-you soda to all kinds of occasions.

“We’re approaching this summer through that lens,” Piper said. “We’ll also be partnering with athletes who naturally embody that spirit to help bring the campaign to life throughout the summer.”

Crumbl’s Hemsley said there are some challenges in doing proximity marketing to a major global event that’s heavily monetized with countless official sponsorships.

“We’re calling it ‘soccer week,’” he said, which is generic enough verbiage to avoid any trademark disputes while still being an obvious reference to the event. Crumbl has done this with past proximity marketing campaigns, such as calling their Super Bowl-timed release The Big Game cookies. “It’s very safe but easy for our consumer to understand,” he said.