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The Business of Soccer: The FIFA 2026 World Cup Is Officially 100 Days Away
00:19:29
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Capital One Announcer
This sports spotlight is brought to you by Capital One Venture X Card, founding partner of iHeart Women's Sports. Did you know that two new expansion teams will begin play this year in the National Women's soccer league? The 2026 season will see the league expand from 14 to 16 teams, with Boston Legacy FC and Denver Summit FC kicking off their inaugural seasons in March with Venture X. Enjoy easy to use premium benefits like a $300 annual Capital One travel credit. Plus you can earn unlimited double miles on every purchase term supply. See capitalone.com for details.
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Amy Hopfinger
Learn more@adobe.com Dothatwith Acrobat.
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Bloomberg Announcer
Bloomberg Audio Studios Podcasts Radio News this
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Amy Hopfinger
is the Business of Soccer the appetite
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FIFA Secretary General Matthias Grafstrom
for soccer in this country is here to stay.
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Amy Hopfinger
The global World cup of 26 will bring just that, the globe to the United States every four years.
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Vanessa Perdomo
You know, there's this moment where the world wakes up to the incredible athletes that we have on the US Women's national team.
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Bowen Yang
There are more soccer games available to
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FIFA Secretary General Matthias Grafstrom
watch on television in the US Than any other country in the world.
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Amy Hopfinger
On soccer, or as I would call it, living in the uk, football is the biggest sport in the world. There's a gap in the market around women's soccer, and we're here to fill that gap. Bloomberg Business of Soccer From Bloomberg Radio,
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Vanessa Perdomo
this is a special edition of the Bloomberg Business of Sports podcast. The Business of Soccer. I'm Vanessa Perdomo 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 U. S 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 tournament, FIFA Secretary General Matthias Grafstrom had this to say on Saturday, February 28th.
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FIFA Secretary General Matthias Grafstrom
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 premature to comment on it in detail, but of course we'll monitor the development 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, a safe World cup with everybody participating.
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Vanessa Perdomo
That was FIFA Secretary General Matthias 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.
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Disney Hulu Advertiser
Amy.
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Vanessa Perdomo
Amy, thanks so much for joining the Bloomberg business of soccer.
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Amy Hopfinger
Thanks for having me.
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Vanessa Perdomo
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?
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Amy Hopfinger
Oh, man, all the emotions, you know, 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 hundred and I guess now 40 days until we get to July 19th.
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Vanessa Perdomo
And what is to come over those next hundred days? What can we expect? You know, what is FIFA have to do over those next hundred days and what do the host cities have to do over those next hundred days?
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Amy Hopfinger
Yeah, I think, you know, we feel really comfortable and confident in where we are in the planning. This has been a long time coming. You know, we've been working on this since the the U.S. 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 stadiums up until a couple 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'll be coming in the coming weeks on top of just the operations that get us to June 11th.
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Vanessa Perdomo
And 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, you know, the games. But what do those cities have to do in terms of to. To get those games? Like, what do they have to prove to FIFA that they're ready to host these events and that over the next hundred days that they're going to be ready for all the people who are going to come as well?
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Amy Hopfinger
Yeah, you know, 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 in stadiums where grass didn't exist. I was in Kansas City yesterday and their pitch project is well on its way. You know, it's fine tuning things with host cities when it comes to, you know, what. And how we're communicating to fans about how to get to the stad. You know, it's the minutia now as opposed to the big broad things, which is exciting because that means we're. We're in a really good spot. We're in a spot where, you know, we can start thinking about fine tuning as opposed to, you know, the big decisions and big things that need to happen.
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Vanessa Perdomo
And there are obviously big things and still that still need to happen. Obviously, there's still six teams that need to qualify, right. To. For the five or six teams.
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Amy Hopfinger
Yep.
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Vanessa Perdomo
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 hundred days. What can you tell us about those big things and do you feel like over the next hundred days everything, you know, will get sorted out for kickoff?
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Amy Hopfinger
Sure. You know, 100 days is, 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, four 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 match schedule will be another major milestone for US and the dynamic around the host cities, around the world, around the three host countries, 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.
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Vanessa Perdomo
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 100 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.
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Amy Hopfinger
Yeah, just as a slightly different geographic setup than we had in Qatar four years ago. But it's been great from day one. This was something that us, Mexico and Canada, from top to bottom, were really invested in going back to the bid and getting us all the way to today. So you see that take shape in all different ways. PIPA has offices in all three countries. We've had offices in all three countries from the very beginning. We've got offices in all of the 16 host cities, which has really helped us make sure that we're dialed into what's going on. But the collaboration and coordination across the three countries, across the 16 cities, is really strong. I can't say enough about how fast we've grown and how we've gotten to a place today where we've got 1,000 employees for FIFA working across the three countries and working as seamlessly as one can hope for in a project this big.
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Vanessa Perdomo
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, are conversations ramped up about further security or how does that work?
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Amy Hopfinger
Yeah, I mean, safety and security is paramount to a successful World Cup. So that's a cornerstone of everything we do, whether that's, you know, just normal operations or, you know, highly, you know, heightened situations like we've had in the last couple weeks. So, you know, 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, you know, feel comfortable with where we are today. We've got, you know, 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, at the offer of the president of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum. So those things are happening, those things. You know, we don't need a situation like what happened in Mexico though, to make sure that we're having these safety and security conversations because we're doing that day in and day out.
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Vanessa Perdomo
Yeah, absolutely. So in those, in those, you know, in all the different cities, you know, every city has a different amount of games and things like that and are activating in different, 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?
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Amy Hopfinger
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, you know, the geography of them is different. The, their map schedules are different. You know, all kinds of different factors, you know, 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, you know, that really starts for them the moment a team steps foot 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, that's what North America is about. You know, we don't, we aren't a continent or three countries that are going to, you know, put out cookie cutter fan experiences. They're going to be really unique and adaptive to each of the cities.
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Vanessa Perdomo
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 about how do you make sure that each city is representative of that community as much as possible?
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Amy Hopfinger
Yeah, I mean, we've got great relationships with the host committees. We really, 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. They talk amongst each other. I know the 11 US cities 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 a northeast corridor which includes 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 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.
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Vanessa Perdomo
And how is the economic, you know, boom going to be for this World Cup? Obviously there are projections and all of those things, but now that it's getting closer, are, are those numbers starting to get more real?
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Amy Hopfinger
Yeah, I think, you know, that was part of, you know, bringing the World cup to North America. You know, you got the biggest media market in the world. You've got, you know, opportunities that you maybe you don't have everywhere else. So making sure that this World cup is really the biggest and best. We talk about it being the largest major sporting event ever and it has the opportunity to do that just by virtue of having 104 games. The reach, the access to tickets in terms of quantity of tickets is staggering. You know, I think that we're tracking well when it comes to tickets, hospitality, commercial partnership sales, media rights sales and so on.
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Vanessa Perdomo
And how many tickets have been sold so far and are projected to be sold.
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Amy Hopfinger
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. 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, teams and others that have set allotments of tickets. 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 there. That final number changes all the time too, you know, based on what we need for camera positions and things like that. So.
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Vanessa Perdomo
And a lot has been made about ticket prices and the price fixed model and 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 the criticism that's gone into that?
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Amy Hopfinger
Yeah, I think it's part of virtue of being in this market. We see and we've seen anything we're 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 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, to look at and to 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 stadium. And if you look at those prices, you know, those are. Those are much different than what FIFA is charging.
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Vanessa Perdomo
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 in other funding. I know that's not something you guys have to deal with, but can you at least give us a little bit of 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?
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Amy Hopfinger
Yeah, I think, you know, on the funding, I can speak less to. On the operational side of it, it's very clear, you know, who's responsible for what, you know, obviously, transportation is important. Making sure that individuals that have tickets that, you know, aren't, 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 all kinds of different transportation situations in the US Alone. You've got cities that are 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 any of the federal funding opportunities. FIFA supports the host cities in 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 the host countries.
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Vanessa Perdomo
And as we're talking about host cities, obviously we have to wrap up here, Amy, 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 favorite or 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.
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Amy Hopfinger
Right.
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Vanessa Perdomo
So what are those different places that are really exciting to you that for the World cup as a whole city?
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Amy Hopfinger
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, in Dallas and, you know, Atlanta. So every city, every stadium, and I skew towards the United States because I spend most of my time focusing there, you know, is so unique and so different and has so much to offer to each of these cities. You've got a Philadelphia, where, you know, it's also America's 250th birthday. So you're in the heartbeat of that. So each of them will be, will really be tapping into 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.
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Vanessa Perdomo
Chief business and strategy officer at FIFA, Amy Hopper. Thanks so much for joining the Bloomberg business of soccer 100 days out. I'm so excited.
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Amy Hopfinger
Thanks. Happy 100 days.
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Vanessa Perdomo
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 Perdomo. 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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