A Fanatics advertisement on the sideline billboard during the NWSL match between Houston Dash and Washington Spirit at Shell Energy Stadium on March 14, 2025 in Houston, Texas.
Aaron M. Sprecher | Getty Images Sport | Getty Images
Fanatics has struck a deal to run retail and merchandising for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the company announced Thursday.
The global competition will see 104 matches played in 16 stadiums across the U.S., Canada and Mexico this coming summer.
“There is no larger sporting event in the entire world than the World Cup … we’ve been doing a lot of events; this is the biggest one we’ll have done yet,” said Andrew Low Ah Kee, CEO of Fanatics Commerce, the company’s manufacturing and retail arm.
Over the last several years, Fanatics has overseen retail operations at international sporting events like MLB’s Tokyo Series, the NFL’s slate of international games, the NHL’s Four Nations tournament and UEFA’s Euro 2024 in Germany. Fanatics was also the retail partner of FIFA’s Club World Cup tournament across the U.S. last summer.
As part of its deal with FIFA for the 2026 tournament, Fanatics will oversee the in-venue retail operations across all 16 locations, which are mostly NFL stadiums with seating capacity of more than 60,000 fans.
It will also have retail operations in the parking lot at each stadium, as well as a retail presence at each of FIFA’s fan festival locations spread across the host cities. In total, Fanatics is forecasting it will have more than 2,000 point-of-sale locations during the tournament.
“In terms of the logistical complexity of it, it’s very real, but I’m confident in our readiness,” said Low Ah Kee, adding that Fanatics has already operated in all the venues where the tournament will be held.
While the length of the tournament – 39 days, to accommodate a larger field of 48 nations – could present another layer of complexity compared to one-off events or shorter tournaments, Low Ah Kee said the company is aiming to lean into the momentum that is built during a World Cup, capitalizing on matchups and moments that arise to create quick-strike products and other limited merchandise.
Fanatics has expanded its soccer-focused retail operations in recent years, and is a partner of MLS, a quarter of the Premier League clubs, and several of the biggest club teams across the world like PSG, Inter Milan and Juventus. It’s also a partner to several national teams who will be competing, such as Argentina, England, France, Belgium and Germany.
Low Ah Kee said that Fanatics’ existing relationships have helped the company better understand soccer fans. That means more fashion-forward products and, specifically, more scarves, Low Ah Kee said.
Fanatics is already in discussion with partners, manufacturers, brands and vendors to make sure that the product stays well stocked for what it expects to be an unprecedented sports retail moment.
“We think this could be a multiple of the biggest events that we’ve run historically,” Low Ah Kee said, declining to share specific figures.
Fanatics’ execution of the 2026 World Cup will also set the stage for another massive undertaking: The company will oversee retail operations for the 2028 Los Angeles Summer Olympics.
Disclosure: CNBC parent NBCUniversal owns NBC Sports and NBC Olympics. NBC Olympics is the U.S. broadcast rights holder to all Summer and Winter Games through 2036. Versant would become the new parent company of CNBC upon Comcast’s planned spinoff of Versant.
