July 20, 2026
The Final Score isn’t the Only Thing Fans Will Remember from the World Cup
The World Cup is one example of a moment where people have invested a significant amount of time and money before the game has even kicked off. Whether it’s the lottery for the tickets, booking travel and accommodation, or navigating the heat we’ve heard so much about – by the time fans arrive at the venue their expectations are high and their emotions are on the line.
But some of the moments that determine whether fans leave happy or frustrated happen off the pitch. Did the Penn Station to Metlife return train experience warrant the $150 dollar ticket price? What did fans really think about the city specific half-time food offerings? Does the need for water in the intense heart outweigh the price to be paid for the ‘FIFA branded’ offerings?
These can seem like small interactions, but in the World Cup and beyond, moments like this in sport shape how fans remember their experience. There are no second chances, so how do brands curate an experience that quite often won’t be repeated?
Thinking Beyond Matchday Operations
Fans compare every experience they have against some of the best customer experiences they’re receiving in other parts of their life. Expectations around speed, convenience and personalisation translate into what they expect from sporting events, and for organisers, that requires viewing the entire fan journey as one connected experience.
But organisers can’t rely on post-match surveys to understand if fans have had a good time. Often by the time someone completes a questionnaire they’re home, and the opportunity to get it right has gone. The best way to overcome this? Listen while the experience is still happening.
Some Brands are a Play Ahead
Manchester City is a good example of an organisation managing this shift. Supporters can share feedback during their visit in real-time through QR codes and tablets positioned around the stadium. It’s then about overcoming the experience gap – the gap between understanding the issue and acting – and using these insights to improve the time fans are having. Teams can use the feedback as it’s received to understand what is working, what isn’t, and how they can evolve experiences before the final whistle.
The PGA TOUR has adopted a similar approach to hearing what its fans have to say. These fans arrive early every day, stay late, and spend longer than a working day navigating an expansive course with thousands of other people. Collecting and acting on feedback during the event means organisers understand issues they’re seeing happen live, and can then make improvements while play is underway.
Winning Fans Beyond the Game
The ability to connect operational decisions with live fan sentiment is becoming increasingly valuable as expectations continue to evolve. And this has a direct impact on how brands perform commercially.
Previous research shows 44% of UK consumers reduce their spending with a company after a bad experience. Sport is a big business. Getting an experience wrong can hugely impact the success of an event for the organisers. But also in sport, perhaps more than any other experience, fans are loyal. If you support Manchester United, you’re not suddenly going to decide to support Liverpool. But when it comes to the business of sport, you might go to less games and spend less money.
Organisers have the opportunity to make sure that watching England play is slightly less stressful because fans haven’t had to stand in a queue for their half-time pint. Or for non-English fans, that getting home after heartache is made slightly less painful by clearly marked exits and a seamless transport system.
Sport will always be unpredictable, and that’s why people love it (or hate it). While brands can’t control the result, they can control almost everything surrounding it.
