The biggest FIFA World Cup in history has officially kicked off across the US, Canada and Mexico.
With 48 teams, more than 100 matches and an expected global audience of around five billion people, the scale of the tournament is unprecedented. For football fans, it will be a month of unforgettable moments. For companies operating across the sports ecosystem, it represents one of the most significant opportunities of the decade.
What makes this World Cup particularly interesting, however, is not just its size. For the first time, the tournament is being hosted across North America at a moment when football is experiencing unprecedented momentum in the region. Combined with a rapidly evolving media landscape, new forms of fan engagement and advances in technology, the World Cup is becoming much more than a sporting event.
Increasingly, it serves as a global convergence point for media, entertainment, technology, commerce and culture. That makes it one of the clearest indicators of where the sports industry is heading. Because, while billions of people will tune in to watch the matches, the way they engage with the tournament has changed dramatically.
Today’s sports fans move seamlessly between social media, creator content, podcasts, live coverage, gaming communities, messaging platforms and sports media. They are no longer consuming sport through a single channel or format. Instead, engagement happens across dozens of touchpoints throughout the day.
For brands, publishers and rights holders alike, this creates a new reality. Success is no longer about being present in one place. It is about being relevant across many. That requires a fundamentally different approach to fan engagement.
The five-point plan
Firstly, content must become more participatory. Fans increasingly expect to interact rather than simply consume. Whether through predictions, community discussions, creator-led content or real-time reactions, engagement is becoming a two-way experience.
Secondly, fan engagement is becoming progressively fragmented. The World Cup may be a single event, but fans no longer experience it in a single place. Some follow creators, others engage through social media, podcasts, gaming communities, live coverage or messaging platforms. Increasingly, fans move seamlessly between all of them. The organisations that succeed will be those that can connect these experiences rather than treating them as separate channels.
Thirdly, local relevance matters more than ever. While the World Cup is global, fan passion remains deeply local. The conversations happening in São Paulo, London, Miami and Mexico City are often very different, even when they revolve around the same match. Global scale remains important, but it only creates value when combined with local understanding, trusted voices and culturally relevant experiences.
Fourth, technology is becoming a bigger part of the fan experience. AI, personalised recommendations and data-driven experiences are no longer future concepts. They are increasingly shaping how fans discover content, engage with sport and make decisions in real time. The most successful experiences will be those where technology feels invisible, helping fans engage more naturally with the moments they care about.
Finally, entirely new categories are beginning to emerge around sports engagement.
Prediction markets are one example. While still at an early stage, they reflect a broader trend: fans are looking for more interactive ways to participate in the moments they care about. The same applies to the growing overlap between sports media, gaming, betting, creator ecosystems and community-driven experiences.
A clear opportunity
Taken together, these developments point towards a larger conclusion.
The future of sports engagement will not be defined by audience size alone. It will be defined by the ability to connect content, technology, communities and data into seamless experiences that feel relevant wherever and however fans choose to engage.
For brands, publishers and technology companies alike, the World Cup represents far more than a short-term spike in attention. It is one of the clearest opportunities to understand where fan behaviour is heading and how audiences will engage with sport in the years to come.
Because, while the tournament only lasts for a few weeks, the trends shaping the next generation of sports fans will continue long after the final whistle. And that may ultimately be the most important lesson of all.
Christian Kirk Rasmussen founded Better Collective together with Jesper Søgaard in 2004 and has been working with and developing the group’s operations since its inception. He is also a founding member of Dreamcraft Ventures Management.
The post Why the 2026 World Cup is about much more than football first appeared on EGR Intel.
Better Collective co-founder and co-CEO Christian Kirk Rasmussen explains why the tournament is an opportunity to understand where fan behaviour is heading and how audiences will engage with sport in the years to come
The post Why the 2026 World Cup is about much more than football first appeared on EGR Intel.