The Business of Soccer: The FIFA 2026 World Cup Is Officially 100 Days Away

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This is a special edition of the Blue Berg Business of Sports Podcast, the Business of Soccer. I'm Vanessa Pradomo, and I'm diving in behind the scenes as we get ready for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which is officially 100 days out. Before my conversation today with FIFA Chief Business and Strategy Officer, we want to address the situation with the US-Israeli War on Iran. Iran qualified to play in the World Cup last year and are scheduled to play in Group G as of now. When asked about Iran's participation in the torment FIFA Secretary General Mateus Grafstrom had this to say on Saturday, February 28th. Well, I think I read the news the same way as you did this morning. We had the meeting today, and I think it's a bit pretty much sure to comment on it in detail, but of course we'll monitor the developments around all issues around the world. I think we had the final draw in Washington, where all teams participated, and of course our focus is to have a safe walk up with everybody participating. That was FIFA Secretary General Mateus Grafstrom commenting on Iran's participation in the tournament. We will continue to monitor that situation. But now we will bring in Chief Business and Strategy Officer at FIFA Amy Hopfinger. She's here to give us all the details about what to expect over the next 100 days as we count down to the biggest sporting event in the world. Amy, thanks so much for joining the Bloomberg Business Fisaka. Thanks for having me. 100 days out from kickoff. Can you believe it's that close or does it not feel close? Does it feel close? Like how are you feeling right now? I'm okay. Oh man, all the emotions. This is something that I've been working on and been involved in since 2017. So to be only 100 days out is really incredible. Those 100 days is still quite a long way to go, but really excited about what's to come over the next 100. And I guess now 40 days until we get to July 19th. And what is to come over those next 100 days? What can we expect? What does FIFA have to do over those next 100 days? And what do the host cities have to do over those next 100 days? Yeah, I think we feel really comfortable and confident in where we are in the planning. This has been a long time coming. We've been working on this since the US, Mexico, and Canada won the bid back in 2018. Since FIFA set up offices in our three host countries back in 2023. So it's not like the work is just starting. The work has been done. We've got great partners in our three countries and our 16 host cities. Their planning has been pretty consistent, has intensified. Obviously, things like pitches are going in in stadiums that were NFL CDM's up until a couple of weeks ago, months ago, for some of our teams. We've got team workshop today. Last time all the teams are getting together before they come into country in May June. We've got a poster release that we're doing today. We've got a bunch of other entertainment announcements that will be coming in the coming weeks. On top of just the operations that get us to June 11th. So is it go time? Or like you had mentioned, obviously, it's been almost go time right since 2018 since these cities were awarded the games. But what do those cities have to do in terms of to get those games? What do they have to prove to FIFA that they're ready to host these events? And that over the next 100 days that they're going to be ready for all the people who are going to come as well. Yeah, I don't think so much about proving because the work has been done over the last few years to get us to this point. We're getting to the technical side of it. Like I said, grass is going in and stadiums were grass didn't exist. I was in Kansas City yesterday and and their pitch project as well on its way. You know, it's fine tuning things with those cities when it comes to, you know, what now we're communicating to fans about how to get to the stadium. It's the minutia now as opposed to the big broad thing, which is exciting because that means we're in a really good spot. We're in a spot where we can start thinking about fine tuning as opposed to the big decisions and big things that need to happen. And there are obviously big things that still need to have an obviously there's still six teams that need to qualify, right, for the five or six teams. Yep. And, you know, on top of that, there are other things that need to be sorted out. There's funding that needs to be sorted out. There's a situation in Iran that needs to be sorted out over those next 100 days. What can you tell us about those big things and do you feel like over the next 100 days, everything, you know, will get sorted out for kickoff? Sure. You know, 100 days is a short period of time, but it's also a long period of time in the world that we live in now if you think about, you know, how quickly things change. You know, we do have a playoff at the end of the month. So we've got six more teams to qualify for from Europe and two from the Intercontinental Playoff. So that'll be exciting to get the last six teams in. We've got some placeholders in there, but to actually slot those names into a map schedule will be, you know, another major milestone for us. And, you know, the dynamic around, you know, the host cities around the world, around, you know, the three host countries, you know, continues to change and evolve. You know, we work really, really closely not only with our host cities, but with our host country governments to make sure that we are delivering the most safe and secure world cup that we possibly can across all stakeholders. And how does that work? I mean, obviously, you know, this this world cup is very different than the last world cup that took place in one place across roughly a hundred miles. So working with three different countries, how has that been and the collaboration there that needs to go across US Canada and FIFA and Mexico? Yeah, just as a slightly different geographic setup than we had in Qatar four years ago. But it's been great, you know, from from day one, this was something that US Max to go in Canada from top to bottom were really invested in going back to the bid and, you know, getting us all the way to today. So you see that, you know, take shape in all different ways. We've people has offices in all three countries. We've had offices in all three countries, you know, from the very beginning. We've got offices in all of the 16 host cities now, which has really helped us, you know, make sure that we're we're dialed into what's going on. But the collaboration and coordination across the three countries across the 16 cities is really strong. You know, I can't say enough about, you know, how fast we've grown and how we've gotten to a place today where, you know, we've got a thousand employees for FIFA working across the three countries and working, you know, it seamlessly as one can hope for in the project this big. And in terms of working across those countries and making sure this is, you know, such a secure world cup and and that you guys are hoping for in there's obviously like we said, there's a lot going on right now in the world in the US and recently situations in Mexico. So when those sorts of things happen, our conversations ramped up about further security or how does that work? Yeah, I mean, safety and security is paramount to a successful world cup. So that's a cornerstone of everything we do. What whether that's just normal operations or highly heightened situations like we've had in the last couple weeks. So the situation in Mexico is one that we were tracking from the very beginning with our team on the ground in Mexico as well as the federal government there. It's something that we feel comfortable with where we are today. We've got a team on the ground that's monitoring it real time. We've got additional people going in this week as you saw from the FIFA president at the offer of the president of Mexico, Claudia Shindbaum. So those things are happening. Those things, we don't need a situation like what happened in Mexico though to make sure that we're having these safety and security conversations 'cause we're doing that day and end day out. - Yeah, absolutely. So in those, in the all the different cities, every city has a different amount of games and things like that and are activating in different ways. What can you tell us about some of the cities that potentially only have like four to six games, but they're activating across the entire span of the tournament? - Yeah, I think that's one of the unique parts about this world cup is not only do you have three host countries, you have 16 very, very different and dynamic cities. So the geography of them is different. The map schedules are different. All kinds of different factors make them unique and different. So finding a way to make sure that we've got one world cup, 16 different host cities has been a priority for us from the beginning. And it is about the whole 39 days. So it's about celebrating the world cup. And for some cities, it's longer than that. Some cities that are team-based camps, that really starts for them. The moment a team steps put into their city, which can be end of May early June. So what a world cup looks like in each city is a little bit different. How they're approaching it is a little bit different. And that's what North America is about. We don't, we aren't a continent or three countries that are going to put out cookie cutter fan experiences. They're going to be really unique and adaptive to each of the cities. - And how do you make sure to work with the local communities? There, obviously each host committee is just based in that city and they're working with local government and local officials. But how do you make sure that each city is representative of that community as much as possible? - Yeah, I mean, we've got great relationships at the host committees. We really, you know, truly believe that they are the world cup. They're the ones that are responsible on the ground for delivering. And our relationship with them is great. And we partner with them all the time. You know, they talk amongst each other. I know, you know, the 11 US cities, you know, meet regularly, we meet with them regularly. We bring all 16 cities together regularly. So the dynamics, and then you've got geographic dynamics. You've got a Seattle Vancouver who've got a great relationship. You've got, you know, a Northeast corridor, which includes, you know, a bunch of cities in the US, but also Toronto. So those relationships have developed over the last couple years. Very independent from us. But we have, you know, brought the brought everyone together at key moments and key times. We had our last host city workshop with all 16 cities in January. And it's fun to see the relationships that have developed from the first time we did that back in 2022. And how is the economic, you know, boom, going to be for this world cup? Obviously, there are projections and all those things. But now that it's getting closer, are those numbers starting to get more real? Yeah, I think, you know, that was part of, you know, bringing the world cup to North America. You've got the biggest media market in the world. You've got, you know, opportunities that, you know, maybe you don't have everywhere else. So making sure that, you know, this world cup is, is really, you know, the biggest and best. We talk about it being the, the largest, you know, major sporting event ever. And it has the opportunity to do that, you know, just by virtue of having 104 games, you know, the reach, the access to tickets in terms of quantity of tickets, you know, is staggering. So, you know, I think that we're tracking well when it comes to tickets, hospitality, commercial partnership, sales, media rights, sales and so on. And how many tickets have been sold so far in our project? You know, or I can't tell you right now today, what's been sold? Because that number changes every day and I don't have it in front of me. And, you know, we've got different phases of ticket sales. We had a very early visa pre-sale. We had some public on sales. We had some group sales. So, you know, it teams and in others that have set allotments of ticket. So those phases are continuing and ongoing. We've got a last minute ticket sales window that'll open later this spring for any, any last minute tickets to get are available. But that's, but now that final number changes all the time too, you know, based on what we need for camera positions and things like that. So. And a lot has been made about ticket prices and the, you know, price fix model and all the variation cost model and all of that. And recently a lot has been made out of the parking prices. What can you say about that and about, you know, the criticism that's gone into that? Yeah, I think it's an important virtue of being in this market. You know, we see and we've seen, you know, anything or selling goes on the secondary market for however many acts. So, you know, we are trying to make sure that, you know, we are responsible as event owners. We're providing access where and when we can, you know, parking for instance is not something that FIFA had typically sold in the past because it was very limited in other situations and instances. In some of these cities and some of the cities in the US, specifically, there are large parking opportunities. So it's a new endeavor for us. It's something that we're continuing to look at into monitor. But for every parking lot that we control, you know, there's 10, you know, five to 10 that some, you know, someone else controls in and around the CDM. And if you look at those prices, you know, those are, those are much different than what FIFA is charging. And then there's obviously the public transportation and today was just announced that the Trump administration is announcing $100 million in funding for public transportation around the world cup, which is really helpful for obviously for cities. And but the other side of it was there's, there's delay and other funding. I know that's not something you guys have to deal with. But can you please give us a little bit about an idea of when someone's chosen as a host nation, what are those things that they have to do in order to make sure transportation and all those other things security and all those other things are funded? Yeah, I think, you know, on the funding, I can speak less to an operational side of it. It's very clear, you know, who's responsible for what? You obviously transportation is important, making sure that individuals that have tickets, that, you know, aren't from that market, aren't from, you know, maybe that host city, maybe from that host country, you'll have an opportunity and access to get to the stadium. So transportation has been a priority for us. We're really excited about the funding that's going to the cities, and specifically to the cities, not to FIFA, to ensure that transportation is successful this summer. You've got, you know, all kinds of different transportation situations in the US alone. You've got cities that are, you know, in the city center, you've got stadiums that are in the city center, stadiums that are a little bit further out. So the transportation needs vary by city, and we're supportive of any funding and opportunities that they get. Same for, you know, any of the federal funding opportunities, you know, FIFA supports the host cities and those efforts and in those endeavors, especially money that's going towards safety and security, because that is a priority for us for the host cities and for those countries. And as we're talking about host cities, I mean, obviously we have to wrap up here, maybe, but as we're talking about the host cities, are there any cities, you know, that FIFA was really blown away by in, you know, that are going to be host cities that people should pay attention to, should visit? I know I know you can't name a favor to anything like that, but I mean, one of the things that was interesting to me was that three different countries are having their home base set up in Kansas City, right? So what are those different places that are really exciting to you that for the World Cup as a host city? Yeah, I think, you know, I will not pick favorites. I do not have favorites, but I think each city has something so unique to offer fans. So whether it's a local cuisine, whether it's local culture, you know, you've got hidden gems like Kansas City, you've got well-known cities like Los Angeles and Miami, you've got unbelievable stadiums, you know, in Dallas and, you know, Atlanta. So every city, every stadium, and I skewed towards the United States because I spent most of my time focusing there, you know, is so unique and so different and has so much to offer to teach of these cities. You've got a Philadelphia where, you know, it's also America's 250th, you know, birthday, so you're in the heartbeat of that. So each of them will be, will really be tapping into, you know, who they are and what they are and the identity of their city. and trying to bring that to the World Cup, which makes this one so unique and so different. Chief Business and Strategy Officer at FIFA Amy Hopperger thanks so much for joining the Bloomberg Business of Soccer. 100 days out, I'm so excited. Thanks, happy 100 days. And that does it for this edition of The Business of Soccer. It's part of a series we're doing for the Bloomberg Business of Sports as we get ready for the FIFA World Cup in 2026, in just 100 days. I'm Vanessa Pradomo, make sure you subscribe now on all your podcast platforms so you never miss an episode. You're listening to The Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio around the world. 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