Beyond the Pitch: The Intellectual Property Powering the FIFA World Cup 2026

Every four years, the FIFA World Cup captivates a global audience on a scale only a few events can rival; the final match of the 2022 FIFA World Cup alone drew
over 1.5 billion viewers, with nearly 5 billion people engaging with tournament content across multiple platforms.2 Like other major global sporting events, the FIFA World Cup is far more than a sporting event, it is one of the world’s most sophisticated intellectual property ecosystems. The FIFA World Cup 2026, currently hosted in North America across the United States, Canada and Mexico will generate substantial value from commercial activities including broadcasting rights, sponsorships, merchandising, licensing and digital engagement. These commercial activities are sustained by a network of intellectual property (IP) rights, including trademarks, copyright, patents and image rights. As football increasingly intersects with technology and global commerce, IP protection has become central to preserving the value and integrity of the World Cup.

This article examines how these rights operate and why they remain indispensable to FIFA’s commercial model.