How do you make the most of the biggest sporting event in the history of humanity after the circus leaves town?
That’s what organizers, advertisers, and stakeholders in and around the North American soccer space have been grappling with ever since FIFA awarded the United States, Canada, and Mexico the opportunity to host the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup back in 2018.
The question was put through a Texas lens Sunday at SXSW during the panel discussion From Touchdowns to Goals: Texas, the World Cup, and the Future of Football, hosted by UK Advertising. And the simple answer boils down to, let Texas be Texas.
The Lone Star State is preparing to host 16 of the 104 World Cup matches between Houston and Dallas. Dallas, it was announced last week, will also be the site of FIFA’s International Broadcast Center, meaning press from across the globe will operate out of Texas for the duration of the five-week tournament, in addition to the hundreds of thousands of soccer fans attending the matches.
“They need to fall in love with Texas. Texas has got to give them something bigger and better that no other state does,” urged Beth Johnson, founder of the UK-based marketing firm Umbrella, which has worked extensively with brands on World Cup-oriented partnerships.
Johnson suggested the host cities lean into traditional fan favorites like food, country & western culture, and non-soccer sporting traditions. “Give them a reason to actually stay fans of Texas.”
For Texas’s three MLS clubs, the conundrum lies in turning World Cup fans into FC Dallas, Houston Dynamo, or Austin FC fans, which hasn’t traditionally been as straightforward as one might think.
Fortunately for those clubs, the 2026 tournament is projected to feature more MLS players than ever before. Austin FC alone has as many as seven players that could rep for their national teams, depending on which countries qualify for the 48-team field.
“The connective device for us is that player storytelling, that athlete storytelling,” Austin FC Brand and Merchandise director Meg Lindon said. “[We’ll be] following that player pathway, being able to say, as a representative of Austin FC, here are all the wonderful things that [the player does] to represent the brand, but you’re also on this global stage.”
Though Austin is not a World Cup host city, clever soccer fans who intend on attending as many matches as possible might make Austin their home base for a tour across both sides of the border. In addition to Houston and Dallas, Austin is also a drivable distance from Monterrey, Mexico, which will host four matches of the tournament.
The World Cup not only presents a chance for MLS clubs to bring newly-converted local soccer fans under their wing, but also to earn some long-distance fans in other countries, as the league grows its international footprint thanks to stars like Lionel Messi, and Apple TV’s internationally-accessible streaming platform.
“I think global relevancy, you know, is the aspiration for us,” Lindon said. “So whether it’s through our partners at Adidas football or other brands that we work with that have global relevancy, it’s the intention behind being able to be seen as a global soccer brand. Yes, North America is great, and North American soccer is where we are and where we’re relevant, but to be relevant on a global scale, I think, is the 10-year goal.”
Tickets for the 2026 FIFA World Cup will be released by FIFA at some point following the conclusion of the 2025 Club World Cup, also taking place in the U.S. Some hospitality packages that include guaranteed tickets, however, are already available.
This article appears in March 7 • 2025.
