That’s it, it’s a wrap. Spain are champions, England are in ‘what-if’ territory again, and the countdown to the club season starts again.

Time to reflect. What can sports organisations, teams and brands learn from the World Cup? The honest answer is, probably not that much.

The World Cup’s a unicorn of an event. No other sport can justify ripping up traditions & charging inordinate amounts of money.

That’s not a great strategy to win. But there are some things that we think are worth keeping in mind.

On the 11th June we penned some thoughts here discussing time zones, content & betting around the World Cup. We also reflected on what we saw in the Women’s Euros in 2025 – how authenticity wins & tokenism loses.

There have been some really strong examples of authenticity at play throughout the tournament & here are some of our favourites

Player-led content

Erling Haaland continues to impress off the field as much as on it. His personal content far stronger than his partnerships (a top-level athlete who drinks raw cow’s milk is very unlikely to enjoy a Budweiser).

England continued their great in-camp footage with a daily show, player diaries & they propelled John Stones’ shoulder to stardom. Though Google using their England partnership to show Harry Kane running a barbecue using Gemini, probably not that great (takes 2 seconds on Kane’s own channels to find him using his iPhone).

What works? Not forced partnerships. Real moments that reflect well on players, teams, organisations.

Coverage

BBC & ITV had a ding-dong battle. Shots were fired at the BBC for their Salford studio, as opposed to ITV’s New York showpiece, but they held their position in the ratings game for the final. They had great social content throughout, great innovations with their 3D experience and perhaps went on to beat ITV at their own game with the shift to broadcasting from amongst the crowd.

ITV arguably had the perfect authenticity vs tokenism play. Much is made of female pundits, but showing Emma Hayes deliver tactical masterclasses in 3-min windows was a really shrewd choice (albeit much has been made of the setting!). They invested time in her analysis, and it paid off.

Content

In the podcast game, The Rest is Football smashed the Netflix charts. Stick to Football posted its biggest numbers. Locally, fan-delivered ‘The England Pod’ punched amongst the heavyweights. We’ve just seen Lineker sign a renewal for domestic football. They’re not just delivering this content because they have to – they believe in it. If brands aren’t paying attention to the shift in broadcasting already, they’re behind.

The bigger coverage question is in creator access. FIFA’s push to bring YouTubers, TikTok creators and behind-the-scenes crews closer to the action helped create a different kind of access.

But that access is not automatically inclusive. For some fans, creator content makes expensive events feel more open. For others, it risks making the same event feel more inaccessible, because the people getting closer are often those with the biggest online followings.

There is a backlash risk as well. When creators or influencers appear to have limited connection to the event, free access can anger. Access only works when the creator has credibility with the culture. Think before you ask someone with no connection to your club to be playing a big role on the opening day of the season

Brand partnerships 

There were some strong guerilla tactics by marketing teams at play – both locally and on the ground. Where these were smart, quick & genuine, they worked. Brands copying the Levis approach with a less-than-distinctive logo probably shouldn’t have.

Product played an interesting role too. It’s often a struggle as marketers have less control over product, but when that works, it’s convincing. Ref cam was delivered thanks to Lenovo technology, Fourth Official armpits were sweat-mark free thanks to Rexona (Sure, in the UK) antiperspirant products. There have been plenty of great campaigns that set one tone, but the product fails to carry that through.

Believe it or not, ‘Brand it like Beckham’ even has authenticity around it, despite being everywhere. The man who has been at the forefront of ‘soccer’ development in the USA, has a rightful place in most stories.

2026/2027 and beyond

Our Women’s Euros data showed purchase likelihood to be 2.5x higher when engaged fans believe that brands communicate authentically. It doesn’t matter which sport, organisation, club, or brand is considering growth in, or via, sport – that’s more important now than ever. Understand the culture, find the right way to fit in, & activate in an authentic manner.