At a Glance
- Sparks President Melissa Levy authored a new opinion piece for Sports Business Journal on what made this summer’s World Cup activations connect with fans.
- Levy’s team ran fan experience programming across seven of the tournament’s 11 U.S. venues, giving her a direct view of what resonated on the ground.
- Her take: the tournament’s most memorable brand moments lived in the space around the games — not just in them.
The World Cup gave brands endless chances to show up this summer. What’s stuck, weeks after Spain lifted the trophy, are the moments that happened around the matches — in fan zones, in the stands, in the space between wins and losses where the tournament actually felt personal.
Levy’s Vantage Point: Seven Venues, One Summer
This week, Sports Business Journal published an opinion piece from Sparks President Melissa Levy on exactly that shift. Levy’s team ran fan experience programming across seven of the tournament’s 11 U.S. venues this summer, and she draws on that vantage point to unpack what actually landed with fans this year — and why.
The Uber Moment: “Sorry for Your (Team’s) Loss”
One example she points to: Uber’s “Sorry for Your (Team’s) Loss” program, which met fans of eliminated teams with discounted rides home rather than only showing up for the winners. It’s a small gesture, but it’s the kind of moment Levy argues brands should be building for — the real, unscripted ones, not just the highlight reel.
The Brands That Made Themselves Part of the Experience
It’s just one of several moments she breaks down. From there, her piece ranges across the tournament’s broader marketing landscape — LEGO‘s fan zones and Rockefeller Center trophy build, Adidas‘ and Nike‘s city-specific watch parties, Scotland’s Tartan Army takeover of Boston and Miami, and Norway’s stadium-shaking “Viking row.” Her throughline: the brands that won this summer weren’t the ones with the biggest footprint. They were the ones that made themselves part of an experience that already felt whole to fans.
Read Melissa Levy’s full op-ed on Sports Business Journal.
