Every few years, the FIFA World Cup transcends sports to become a global cultural moment. Fans gather in stadiums, bars, city centers, and living rooms across the world, turning everyday spaces into shared cultural moments. Increasingly, out-of-home (OOH) and digital out-of-home (DOOH) are the channels that light up the streets where fans gather to celebrate.
The FIFA World Cup isn’t just a sporting event — it’s one of the few occasions that commands attention across the globe. Fans fill stadiums, line streets, and gather in retail corridors, turning entire cities into arenas of celebration.
In this environment, DOOH offers something that no other channel can: the ability to meet fans where culture is happening. Screens in transit hubs, city centers, and neighborhood retailers transform ordinary spaces into extensions of the tournament.
FIFA invested $5M in OOH during Q2 2025 to promote the 2026 Club World Cup, a key indicator of how seriously it views public outdoor space as a place to connect with fans leading up to the event next year. This early investment shows that FIFA is using OOH as a leading channel to build momentum for the World Cup almost a year in advance.
Anna Bager, President and CEO of the OAAA, explained: “OOH mirrors the cultural and social moments that shape how people spend their time and is where brands show up to connect with audiences at scale.”
Why DOOH Elevates Cultural Moments
1. Real-Time Relevance
DOOH can sync creative with live scores, match results, and tournament milestones
Brands can instantly react to cultural moments (goals, upsets, finals) with dynamic, localized content.
2. Global Reach, Local Impact
World Cup events draw billions of viewers worldwide, but DOOH reaches people in the streets, fan zones, restaurants, and transit hubs.
Messages land where fans live, work, and celebrate, from Times Square to neighborhood pubs.
3. Immersive Atmosphere
DOOH transforms cities into branded arenas, extending the energy of the matches into public spaces.
It becomes part of the event experience — not just an ad, but part of the celebration and atmosphere.
4. Scalable & Flexible
Brands can roll out campaigns citywide or nationwide, then scale spend up or down depending on team performance and audience excitement.
Programmatic DOOH enables last-minute creative swaps and targeted expansion without reprinting or logistics.
5. Cultural Connection
Unlike online ads, DOOH is un-skippable and shared in public space.
During cultural events like the World Cup, fans are gathering together, DOOH amplifies that collective experience and cements brand association with national pride, passion, and community.
6. Cross-Channel Bridge
DOOH can integrate with mobile, social, and QR-driven campaigns.
A screen in a fan zone can trigger mobile engagement, contests, or live polls, seamlessly connecting physical excitement with digital interaction.
7. Measurement & Accountability
Modern DOOH offers impression verification, audience targeting, and attribution.
Brands investing in cultural moments can prove ROI through foot traffic lift, engagement, and conversion data — moving beyond “awareness only.
DOOH in 2026
The 2026 FIFA World Cup will be the biggest in history, with games spanning across the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. The U.S. market is ready. (OOH) advertising hit a historic milestone in 2024, generating more than $9.1 billion in revenue, a 4.5% year-over-year increase, according data from the Out of Home Advertising Association of America (OAAA). It marks the first time in the industry’s history that annual OOH revenue has surpassed $9 billion.
"As brands double down on innovation and creativity, OOH remains a powerful driver of engagement across industries. The ongoing adoption by technology and direct-to-consumers brands underscores the channel's expanding influence," said Badger. "This research reinforces what we already know, OOH is delivering results at every level, from hyperlocal activations to national and global campaigns."
Cultural events like the FIFA World Cup don’t just live inside stadiums or broadcast feeds, they come alive in local neighborhoods and city centers. Digital Out-of-Home is the medium that captures that shared energy and amplifies it in real time. For brands, that means more than impressions; it delivers impact at the moments when excitement is at its peak. That’s why DOOH isn’t just supporting cultural events, it’s powering them.
The Smartify DOOH Network has hundreds of displays in host cities including Miami, Atlanta, NYC/NJ, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and Houston. Contact our team to create a custom plan.