The FIFA World Cup ended with Spain taking home the trophy, but marketers also scored a big win with U.S. consumers, based on early market research findings.
Brands committed an estimated $3.5 billion in sponsorship and advertising spending on the six-week tournament and the indications are that it was money well spent, according to a report by MarketCast. Viewership has been off the charts through the 104-match run of the competition, and based on early measurements, marketers are breaking through, building engagement with consumers that’s far ahead of the norm.
“We’re seeing just a level of passion, of emotion that is just off the charts, unlike any other World Cup that has ever been before,” says Kerel Cooper, chief marketing officer of MarketCast. “It just shows that something special is going on with the sport.“
Soccer may not be the U.S. national sport, as it is in other countries, but according to MarketCast’s 2025–2026 Sponsorship Effectiveness Report: World Cup Edition, the U.S. fandom for the sport is dedicated and loyal to sponsors, and it is growing. Based on early findings, the sponsors have succeeded in building U.S. audiences and engagement far ahead of the previous tournament, held in Qatar in 2022.
Ad tracking through MarketCast’s Brand Effect solution during the opening weekend of the World Cup showed ads from brands such as Jeep, Wayfair and FanDuel, showed double-digit increases in performance, up to 24 points above their norm. (A more comprehensive report, analyzing ads’ effectiveness through the finals, will be released mid-August, says Cooper.)
“Something special”
The report uses Major League Soccer (MLS) and National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) fans as a proxy for U.S. soccer fans and it found them to be highly engaged both the sport and the brands that sponsor it. Among MLS fans, 24% that is the first thing people would say about them, and 26% of NWSL fans say their fandom is their primary identity trait.
That fervor translates to the brands that tie into the sport, as well. Forty-three percent of MLS fans and 44% of NWSL fans say they actively support brands that support those leagues.
“That shows fans are investing in the league, going to local matches, but also they’re identifying and noticing sponsors that are there in the stadium as well,” said Cooper.
Eighty-two percent of soccer fans say it is important to be aware of league sponsors, making them among the most sponsor-conscious audiences in MarketCast’s research, ahead of leagues like NASCAR and UFC. Roughly four out of 10 believe sponsors enhance the fan experience, and the report found they are more likely than fans in other sports to distinguish between official sponsors and in-game advertisers.
Cooper noted Telemundo reported viewers watching the Spanish-language broadcasts during the early, 72-game world stage reported a 13% stronger connection to brands, a 48% increase in loyalty to World Cup advertisers and a 15% stronger perception of credibility for the World Cup advertising over the last World Cup.
“The level of increase has been something special compared to the 2022 tournament,” Cooper says.
NFL-sized audiences
The World Cup has energized the fan base and added many new fans, says Cooper. In spite of the matches being spread across multiple broadcast and streaming platforms, U.S. viewership increased nearly 90% over the 2022 World Cup. Cooper noted the U.S.-Belgium elimination match became the most watched soccer telecast in U.S. history.
“Thirty-three million viewers. That rivals the NFL,” says Cooper. “It’s been a record setting event.”
And having had the tournament in the United States is only going to propel that growth forward, says Cooper. Besides the many foreign-born U.S. fans who will continue to follow their national teams, many fans of local teams have picked international teams to follow as a result and will continue to expand their enthusiasm, says Cooper.
“In any sport, you’re always going to have your hard-core fans, but it’s attracting those casual fans that really makes a difference,” says Cooper. “Not only for the hardcore fan, but the casual fan, it creates this lasting effect that is only going to lift the popularity of the sport in the country. And at the end of the day, for brands who are trying to reach and engage sports fans, it provides another vehicle.”
Soccer fandom is having a cultural moment, Cooper says. As with any cultural moment, the excitement of having a brand connected with that emotion is going to make the occasion memorable for the soccer fan, Cooper says. But the World Cup has reached beyond, creating connections with everyday viewers.
Even controversy such as a disputed penalty against Switzerland when playing Argentina or the reinstatement of a U.S. player who was ejected from the game, have only served to increase interest in the event and viewership for the sponsors. Conversely, human interest stories and personalities, such as the Cape Verdean goaltender who shot to stardom, have emerged to add even more interest to the game.
“That excitement and having a brand that is connected to that engagement, that emotional connection, is going to be memorable for the soccer fan,” says Cooper. “That brand now becomes a part of an experience and a memory that lasts, quite frankly, forever — or at least until the next World Cup.”
