FIFA World Cup 2026ExpressVPN announced a new partnership with FIFA World Cup 2026 as an official tournament supporter across the U.S., Canada and Europe. It’s the company’s largest sports sponsorship to date. As part of the partnership, the company’s branding will appear on pitch-side LED boards throughout the tournament. It will also launch a ticket sweepstakes offering 50 tickets across the quarterfinals, semifinals and final and stage a digital takeover of Times Square leading up to the championship match. (Photo credit: ExpressVPN, used with permission)AB InBev is building on its global campaign celebrating local bars to double down on the significant role they play in fostering togetherness during the World Cup with the sentimental Cheers to Bars, created in partnership with Gut. Beyond its existing sponsorship of the tournament through its Michelob Ultra Budweiser brands, the company is also scheduled to host 200,000 watch parties across more than 40 countries. Building on its partnership with the U.S. Soccer Federation to support the Men’s and Women’s National Teams through the 2026 Men’s World Cup, 2027 Women’s World Cup, and LA28 Olympic and Paralympic Games,Google released a new multichannel campaign in the U.S. exhibiting how fans can use its Search tool to learn more and connect deeper with the sport’s global appeal. Created by Google Brand Studio, the campaign features USMNT player Weston McKennie, legends Landon Donovan and Tim Howard, and Spanish soccer star Lamine Yamal, and will run across broadcast, social and online in the U.S. throughout the tournament. The tech giant also released a new YouTube TV ad featuring Jason and KylieKelce and Zlatan Ibrahimović, once again showing the Swedish former soccer pro’s comedic timing. The campaign will also include a broadcast integration with Fox, surprise animations and interactive features in Search filled with Easter eggs for fans, a series of 69 Doodles from June 11 through July 20 featuring 36 unique pieces of artwork across 189 markets to celebrate the tournament's expansion, and athlete-led and creator-driven content on social. Google Search is also sponsoring The Athletic’sThe Language of Soccer campaign, “translating each nation’s unique fan culture through a single, defining phrase.” Fox One released The FIFA World Cup Comes First, a comically macabre campaign created in partnership with Anomaly featuring some dark scenarios where fans’ obsession with the sport result in some life-threatening consequences. The campaign, ironically scored with Frankie Valli’s “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You,” will also leverage creators across the 39-day tournament. FanDuel released Norway, the first spot in its Let There Be Goals campaign created in partnership with agency Arts & Letters Creative Co. showing how using the platform’s Play Your Game feature “taps into the energy surrounding the tournament.” The fun spot features Landon Donovan and Wednesday actor Luis Guzmán.Hard Rock Hotel dropped All Teams. One Place, its new spot featuring Lionel Messi in celebration of the tournament. The spot, directed by Nick Johansson, was filmed at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood, where the soccer legend has a custom suite, a limited-menu-item burger and merch and hosted a meet-and-greet sweepstakes as part of his partnership with the hospitality brand.Walmart teamed up with Messi’s Inter Miami FC teammate, Uruguayan Luis Suárez, for a social campaign featuring him “trading his cleats for his couch” to watch the tournament from home. In addition to a social content series he will share via his social throughout the tournament, Suárez will also appear at the brand’s Miami activation, one of several they will host in locations including Los Angeles and New Jersey. Dick’s Sporting Goods teamed up with Adidas to release Where It All Kicks Off, a co-branded integrated campaign featuring Messi, Yamal, Trinity Rodman, Patrick and Brittany Mahomes, Juanpa Zurita and Cobi Jones to capture the excitement and energyaround the global event. The spot was produced by OBB and developed by its branded content studio, Bolded. AT&T teamed up with Donovanfor the latest installation of its World Cup campaign highlighting how the telecoms giant brings people together. Knock on the Block, created Omnicom Creative, Strategy, Accounts & Media, also features the brand’s current spokesman, Arturo Castro. Donovan will also be featured in the brand’s social integration during the tournament.Verizon, which has been featuringstars such as David Beckham and Tim Howard during its own campaign as an official Telecommunications Services Sponsor of the tournament, rolled out two additional campaigns in time for the tournament: a high-visibility spotlighting real Verizon customers who won tickets through the brands’ exclusive customer contests, which will run in key markets such as New York, Los Angeles and Dallas, and a flagship TV spot from its Verizon Business brand spotlighting how its powering all 104 matches across 16 stadiums and three countries. The OOH campaign was developed by Verizon’s in-house team, while the spot was created in partnership with Ogilvy, and will run across broadcast and streaming. (Photo credit: Verizon, used with permission)Bank of America debuted its collectible BofA Fan Bands across all U.S. host cities. The more than 10 million free bracelets — which pay tribute to the host cities and fans can collect and trade at designated fan zones where the brand is activating — come in red, blue and black and feature 140 custom-designed beads inspired by the tournament. (Photo credit: Bank of America, used with permission)Netflix Latinoamérica released Out of Office, a fun campaign for the Mexican market built around the upcoming soccer season, in which the streamer’s regular programming “gets a vacation” while fans are engrossed in watching matches instead. The campaign, developed by Monks, shows characters from Squid Game, Stranger Things and Mexican drama Rosario Tijeras out in the wild becoming soccer fans themselves.NBA FinalsAhead of the New York Knicks’ historic Game 4 comeback over the San Antonio Spurs, Dude Wipes activated outside of Madison Square Garden to distribute over 1,000 of its Double Deuce packs to fans and passersby heading into watch parties, local bars or inside to the game itself in celebration of Knicks guard Miles “Deuce” McBride and the team’s epic Finals run. The packaging (naturally) included slogans such as “Drop a Deuce” and the product was hopefully used to wipe the stench left by Game 3.(Photo credit: Dude Wipes, used with permission)During the game, State Farm executed a real-time, AI-generated social content campaign featuring “Stan,” its branded spokes-stanchion pad reacting to the on-court action. The brand partnered with Google AI Lighthouse Program to execute the social stunt, which it reports reached thousands of engaged fans.I totally called that. pic.twitter.com/j1zDzbDx0k— State Farm (@StateFarm) June 11, 2026Just before the Final began, Nike released its Always Knicks campaign, a collection of over 50 portraits captured by iconic NYC photographer Jonathan Mannion celebrating the team and its loyal fandom, featuring a selection of die-hard Knicks fans including Spike Lee, Vashtie Kola, Jae Tips and some of the city’s finest fire fighters, MTA workers, barbers, nurses, doormen, coaches and security guards. And in other news …German brewer Paulaner has tapped former U.S. Men’s National Team striker, MLS Champion and MLS Cup MVP Jozy Altidore to serve as the U.S. jury member and campaign ambassador for Match of Your Life, a global amateur soccer search for players across the country to compete for one of six coveted spots on the brand’s international Dream Team. Eligible amateur and recreational players will earn a chance to try out for the team and a trip to Munich, where they will face Bundesliga champions FC Bayern Munich as representatives from America in 2027 as part of the team’s partnership with the brand. During the Footy League Governor’s Cup in New York June 6-7, the brand kicked off its U.S. launch with an activation in search of players. Applicants aged 21 and over nationwide must submit a video via dedicated site, with final selections to be made by a high-profile international jury that include FC Bayern stars Konrad Laimer and Lena Oberdorf and longtime FC Bayern stadium announcer Stephan Lehmann, with Altidore leading U.S. selection efforts as part of the global panel.Volkswagen launched a new campaign introducing “Tiggy,” a remote-controlled version of the automaker’s Tiguan model carrying a soccer ball throughout different cities to hype up American soccer fans. Tiggy originally earned its fame for delivering match balls inside the stadium lines during the Euro 2020 tournament.The US Open announced that Electrolit is its Official Electrolyte Beverage in a new multiyear partnership beginning with the 2026 tournament. Kicking off at this year’s US Open, the sports drink brand will be built into the player ecosystem at the tournament’s home in Flushing Meadows, from branded on-court coolers and player areas to a dedicated presence on the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center grounds. The partnership will also extend into broadcast visibility with rotating on-court branding during ESPN’s US Open coverage in the U.S.The partnership builds on Electrolit’s growing footprint in tennis, including partnerships with WTA World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka and rising tennis stars like Emilio Nava.(Photo credit: Electrolit, used with permission)To celebrate Serena Williams’ return to competitive tennis, ready-made meal delivery service Factor announced its newest partnership with the tennis GOAT as her official nutrition partner. In the spot, created by the brand in concert with Maximum Effort, Williams announces to her team that she’s “changed her mind,” only to reveal she isn’t talking about tennis. Through the partnership Williams has also curated a selection of high-protein and GLP-1 friendly meal options.New York-based handbag and accessories brand Caraa has partnered with the USA Fencing on a first-of-its-kind capsule collection, capitalizing on rising interest in the sport both by a new generation of athletes and growing visibility on the global stage. One hundred percent of the proceeds from the sale of the limited-edition collection — which features a colorway designed exclusively for Team USA’s Olympic and Paralympic athletes alongside a corresponding consumer collection — will be donated to the USA Fencing Foundation to support and develop the next generation of athletes. (Photo credit: Caraa, used with permission)Workday and agency partner Ogilvy created a “real-time” ad using footage from the PGA Tour Memorial Tournament play on Thursday and Friday which ran during the Championship on Sunday. The ambitious production reportedly functioned like a “live event newsroom,” allowing the software company an opportunity to fully integrate itself into the programming. X announced it will be the exclusive streamer of NFL Top 100, the acclaimed player-voted countdown series from NFL Films and the platform. The X Original Series features short form episodes revealing the league’s top players as voted on by active league players. The series debuts June 22 and will run on weekdays through September 4, running later on NFL+ and other NFL owned-and-operated social media channels.(Photo credit: X, used with permission)GoPuff’s latest campaign features brand spokesman Tom Brady hilariouslystruggling to say the same of his new premium organic coconut water brand, Good Nut (which prompts the question: Is it really his brand?). The brand officially launched on the delivery platform. MLB Players Inc. announced the launch of “MLB Player Studio,” a new content platform designed to serve as the umbrella for original programming, talent and brand partnership across the business arm of the league’s Player’s Association. The organization tapped content company Portal A to develop and produce a slate of original series that will be distributed across YouTube, Instagram and TikTok via MLB Players, Inc. and athlete-owned channels.(Photo credit: MLB Players, used with permission)