By Mark Seavy 

The recent FIFA World Cup set all kinds of records, both on and off the field, but whether that translates into sustained sales beyond the tournament remains to be seen. 

Licensees we polled are trying to gauge retail demand for World Cup-related gear in the aftermath of the tourney’s finale on July 19 in which Spain beat Argentina 1-0. 

Adidas CEO Bjørn Gulden told numerous news outlets that the sportswear brand’s strong run at the World Cup, which included sponsorship of the Argentina and Spain national teams and their stars Lionel Messi and Lamine Yamal, will help the brand gain momentum far beyond the tournament.  

Adidas forecasted tourney-related revenue hit $1.7 billion (its financial results are being released July 30) and said it sold four times as many jerseys as the 2022 World Cup and that soccer-inspired streetwear carried sales. All told there were 14 World Cup teams competing in Adidas apparel. The company also opened a 9,000-square-foot soccer-focused flagship store at the American Dream Mall in East Rutherford, NJ in February. 

The World Cup final attracted between 1.5 and 1.8 billion viewers across Telemundo, Peacock, and Fox, a figure that was up from 1.42 billion for the final in 2022. Average viewership throughout the tournament was 175 million per match. 

“There will be legs from the tournament for sales but for how long still must be determined,” a soccer licensing executive. “Having a premier soccer event in the U.S. certainly helped sales but what that means for securing retail space on the floor going forward, we will have to see.”  

Major League Soccer (MLS), which had 44 players from 17 countries play in the World Cup, launched a U.S. advertising blitz tagged “Thanks world, we will take it from here” during the final week of the tournament. The league, which has 30 teams and was founded in 1993, also chose to align with the international soccer calendar by shifting the regular season in 2027 to a summer-to-spring campaign.  

This came as MLS continues to gain retail shelf space, albeit on a regional basis (with the exception of Inter Miami FC star Messi’s national presence), licensing executives said. And to bring nostalgia into play, Outerstuff fields FIFA Classic apparel that bears the marks of past World Cup teams, including those from the tournament in 2022 in Qatar. 

“We are trying to figure out now whether retailers want to continue carrying product after the World Cup,” a licensing executive said. “I would be surprised if the answer was no but are they going to take items off the floor to accommodate these items? Probably not, but they appear willing to give a test a shot. You want to test something now while there is momentum because there is no better time to do that. How as a retailer do you not test things on the heels of the World Cup? It is just a question of where that demand sits.” 

The industry’s continued focus on soccer was evident at the recent Fanatics Fest in New York, where FIFA took a large booth at the front of the show floor. The event drew about 200,000 attendees, up from 125,000 last year.   

The FIFA booth featured a gaming lounge that allowed attendees to compete in soccer-related videogames like Enver Studio’s FIFA Heroes, Delphi Interactive’s FIFA World Cup: Launch Edition, and Epic Games’ Rocket League FIFA World Cup 2026 LTE. FIFA also had championship rings at its booth, 30 of which went to winning players and coaches while the remainder will be sold for $12,000 each.  

Gotham FC from the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) also had a booth at Fanatics Fest and the NWSL had Avery Dennison’s print-on-demand machine that enabled attendees to have their picture affixed to a t-shirt of their favorite team. Additionally, Paris Saint Germain from France’s Ligue 1 and the MLS’ New York City FC and Orlando City FC teams were on the show floor. Heritage Auctions featured several collectibles at the event, including Diego Maradona’s “Hand of God” ball from the goal the Argentinian scored to beat England in the 1986 World Cup. The ball goes up for auction on August 21 with a starting bid of $10 million. 

“While the recent sales acceleration has been helped by the World Cup, which is a one-time event, brands like Adidas remain strong in Europe, Latin America, emerging markets, and Asia,” said Cristina Fernández, a senior research analyst at Telsey Advisory Group.