Now that quarterly earnings results are in for many of the brands that spent an estimated $2.8 billion to be an official sponsor of the 2026 World Cup, the question for marketers is: Did they get their money’s worth?
The answer is a mixed bag, depending who you ask.
The Winners
The world cup seemed to be a win for Coca-Cola, which saw net revenues go up by 7% in Q2 to $13.4 billion.
CEO Henrique Gnani Braun told analysts on an earnings call that Coca-Cola’s World Cup sponsorship contributed to trademark Coca-Cola volume growth of 5% for the quarter, its strongest in 17 years.
At Visa, CEO Ryan McInerney and CFO Chris Suh both also praised their FIFA investment on the financial services giant’s earnings call.
Visa ended its third quarter on July 28, reporting a 14% year-over-year net revenue increase to $11.63 billion. In some host cities, transactions rose 20%, while business from international visitors grew as much as 40%.
“As we know, the FIFA World Cup brought many visitors to the U.S.,” Suh told analysts.
The Yellow Cards
There was less to cheer about at McDonald’s, where Q2 comparable store sales rose just 1.3% overall, while U.S. comps rose an anemic 0.8%. Contrast that to Q2 last year, when those figures were 3.8% and 2.5%, respectively.
The Golden Arches showered World Cup fans with everything from team collectibles to a World Cup 26 Meal. After the campaign delivered lackluster results, CEO Chris Kempczinski told analysts that the focus is now on delivering consistent quality, not “borrowed equity” from high-profile partnerships.
“It’s tough to break through when you have that many messages out there,” Kempczinski said. “You’ve got a K-Pop Demon Hunters message, then you have a value message, then you have a beverage message, then you have a FIFA message. It’s tough to drive awareness when you’re jumping around.”
