Hello,
I walked out of SoFi Stadium last week and the first thing I said was… I would have paid double.
FIFA is on top… and it’s bigger than ever!
Because what they’ve built over the last decade is one of the biggest brand transformations in modern business.
A Household Name
Here’s something most people don’t think about, for most of its existence, FIFA wasn’t really a brand. It was a governing body/institution… trying to compete with the Olympics. That’s changed. Dramatically.
What FIFA is doing right now, and what I saw with my own eyes at SoFi, is the definition of a brand identity. And whether you love or hate the organization, from a pure brand-building perspective, they are doing it right.
Under Gianni Infantino, who took over as FIFA president in 2016, the organization has undergone a full commercial transformation. The numbers tell the story:
- 2019–2022 cycle: $7.57 billion in revenue up 18% from the cycle before
- 2023–2027 cycle: Projected $11 billion
- The 2026 World Cup alone: Projected $8.9 billion, roughly double what the entire 2024 Paris Olympics generated
To put that in context: one soccer tournament is projected to out-earn the Olympic Games by 2x.
Aggressive Brand Moves
Here’s where things get really interesting for marketers. FIFA has what’s called a Clean Stadium Policy. The rule is simple and absolute: if you’re not an official FIFA sponsor, your brand doesn’t exist inside that venue during the tournament. Not a logo or sign.
The enforcement of this goes further than most people realize:
- Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara: home to the San Francisco 49ers, one of the most recognizable naming rights deals in American sports, was stripped of its identity and covered their big Levi’s logo.
- MetLife Stadium, Gillette Stadium, Mercedes-Benz Stadium: all temporarily renamed.
- At Gillette Stadium, staff placed 64,146 individual pieces of blue tape over every single Gillette logo on every single seat in the building.
- In the media areas, condiment bottles had their branding taped over. No logos on buildings… even down to the ketchup bottles.
From a brand perspective? Every photo leaving that stadium is a clean FIFA photo. Every broadcast frame is pure FIFA real estate. This reinforces brand identity. Only FIFA logos and specific event sponsors.
They engineered a controlled environment where their brand is the only thing the world’s cameras can find.
Gianni Infantino and the Personal Brand Play
FIFA’s CEO, Gianni Infantino, has quietly become one of the smartest operators in global sports.
Under his leadership, FIFA’s revenue has reportedly more than doubled. But the numbers aren’t even the most interesting part.
What’s interesting is what he’s doing on social media. Consistently posting with cultural figures who have nothing to do with traditional soccer media, but global stars:
- Draymond Green
- Travis Scott
- Justin Bieber
- IShowSpeed
The Speed deal is worth unpacking specifically. FIFA didn’t just let Speed show up at a game. They gave him the first-ever FIFA Fan ID because they realize his audience skews exactly where FIFA wants to grow: young, digital-native, globally distributed.
Speed’s song “World Cup (Champions)” originally released as an unofficial anthem, which after going viral, ended up on the official FIFA tournament album.
FIFA also struck a landmark deal with YouTube, giving a global group of creators unprecedented behind-the-scenes access to stadiums and team environments during the tournament. Select matches are being streamed via YouTube Primetime Channels.
Gianni’s strong points:
- He understands the creator economy
- He knows that relevance lives on YouTube and social, not just broadcast TV
- He’s willing to go to where the audience is, not wait for them to come to him
That’s a CEO who gets it. And that filters down into how the entire organization moves.
The Formula FIFA Is Actually Running
Strip away the billion-dollar budgets and the global scale, and FIFA’s brand playbook breaks down to something every founder can apply:
I’ve been writing about this exact framework for two years. FIFA is just the biggest proof point I’ve seen yet.
The Bigger Picture
FIFA spent a hundred years being a name. They’re spending the next hundred evolving and adapting to the times.
Whether it’s VAR replays, referee POV cams, or adding more games and playing across three different countries. They stopped waiting for culture to come to them and started meeting it where it lives.
That’s the blueprint. Not just for a sports organization… for any brand, any founder, any marketer trying to build something that lasts.
You don’t need the World Cup to run this play. You need a room, a visual, the right people, and the discipline to do it consistently.
What’s Hot
How much these Youtuber’s made before retiring: The numbers will shock you!
Adidas is changing what branding could be: Their new World Cup jerseys have something most people miss.
Women in business… BOOMING: Over 40% of businesses in the US is women owned!
Thanks for reading this week’s letter! See you in the next one. 😊
-Benni
