The agency forms an entertainment practice to compete for integrated brand work as rivals broaden their sports and culture capabilities.
Event enthusiasm lifts spending despite inflation and budget pressures.
At $184, the mattress industry's cost per action towers roughly 9x above the next-priciest category, home & garden at $20, according to a March report from impact.com.
Working with the Mavericks can reward customers and build ties beyond brand visibility.
Live sports reward streamers with user acquisition: Exclusive events create can't-miss moments that offer engagement and advertising opportunities.
Amex’s Fanatics events show how experiential sports rewards can give issuers a competitive edge.
This reflects healthcare’s broader expansion into sports marketing as brands seek to connect with younger, diverse audiences.
Brands are adjusting to a different setting for this year's FIFA World Cup, as fans of the tournament, which runs through July 19, follow the action on a highly fragmented array of channels, forcing brands to come up with creative ways to engage them. “Hosting the tournament in North America, specifically in the States, is pulling fans decisively off traditional broadcast and into digital and connected TV (CTV) to follow along,” said Rod Paolucci, global head of marketing at Channel Factory. In addition to streaming the games on a big screen, many viewers will be checking social media and other feeds on a mobile second screen.
FIFA rights draw bidders: Netflix, Disney, and YouTube weigh $1.5B+ World Cup bids as tougher US kickoff times cloud the investment.
The bank turned a costly deal into a year-long engagement opportunity, offering banks a playbook for brand equity.
Soccer Shots, an organization of youth soccer clinics at schools and public spaces in the US and Canada, is giving brands an opportunity to build relationships with new and experienced sports families. National and global brands are connecting with Soccer Shots families on the web, and with the orange Soccer Shots jersey that arrives in the mail. Organizations like Soccer Shots are a way for brands to gain a presence in front of sports parents that is very favorable to businesses that support their children’s athletics.
World Cup draws record US audiences: US-Belgium set a 42 million viewer soccer record, reinforcing live sports as a rare source of mass reach for brands.
Tools and home improvement delivered the strongest ad returns of any industry at $4.56 for every dollar spent in Q4 2025, nearly 2.5x the return clothing, shoes & jewelry advertisers saw ($1.86), according to a Q4 2025 report from SellMetric.
Creator content rewrites World Cup viewing: Livestreams beat TV for many fans, giving brands new ad paths as media rights steer where audiences watch.
Health and beauty AOV fell 7.8% YoY to $62.26 in March 2026, the only industry to decline while eight other categories posted gains, according to a March report from impact.com.
Finance apps retain 17.6% of users 30 days after download, the highest rate of any industry in North America and nearly 4 times that of shopping apps (4.51%), according to a March report from Airship.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup is breaking records as the largest tournament in history with 48 teams, but economic pressures and shifting demographics are reshaping expectations for what was projected to be a $30 billion windfall for host nations. "Over the last 12 months, we've seen a flurry of activity from outside the retail sector," said our analyst Sarah Marzano on a recent episode of "In the Game." While early forecasts painted a rosy picture, with FIFA projecting over $30 billion in economic impact and the US Travel Association expecting visitors to spend $5,000 per trip, the reality has proven more complex as tariffs, inflation, and geopolitical tensions dampen international travel.
Host cities saw late-night traffic and revenue climb sharply.
Finance apps lead Day 2 app activation in North America at 23.76%, the only category besides health & fitness (20.32%) to clear 20% and roughly 3x the return rate of food & drink apps (7.93%), according to a March report from Airship.
On today's podcast episode, we discuss the scale of the World Cup, how many people in the US will engage with the event, whether the World Cup will spark a surge in sports tourism among Americans, and the best ways for brands to capture fans' attention during the tournament (and other major events). Join Senior Director of Podcasts and host Marcus Johnson, Senior Director of Forecasting Oscar Orozco, and Senior Forecasting Analyst Drew Spink. Listen wherever you get your podcasts, or watch on YouTube or Spotify.