The Fan Journey Starts on the Road 

The 2026 World Cup is more than a media event – it’s a mobility event. 

16 host cities across three countries. 6.5 million¹ expected attendees. More than 1.2 million² international visitors. The 2026 World Cup is expected to become one of the largest live sporting events ever staged across North America. 

But while most brand planning still focuses on broadcast, sponsorship, and social media visibility, another part of the fan experience is becoming increasingly important: movement. 

Fans travel between stadiums, watch parties, restaurants, hotels, and host cities throughout tournament periods. They search for food before kickoff, stop for fuel or charging, and navigate unfamiliar destinations along the way. 

That is what makes major sporting events more than just media events. 

They are mobility events.

The fan journey starts before kickoff – and it mostly happens in a car 

The upcoming tournament is projected to generate massive activity across host cities and surrounding regions. But the fan experience is not concentrated around stadiums alone. It extends across entire mobility ecosystems, from airports and highways to restaurants, retail destinations, and entertainment districts. For many fans, the event will also become a gateway to broader travel, tourism, and exploration throughout their stay³. 

A major sporting tournament like the upcoming World Cup is not one single journey. It is a sequence of connected moments unfolding across an entire day or weekend. 

For fans, that can include: 

• driving to watch parties, stadiums, or fan zones  

• searching for food or convenience stops along the way  

• stopping for fuel or charging between destinations  

• exploring cities during non-match days 

In the United States especially, the car remains the dominant way people move. Around 9 in 10 trips in the U.S. are made by car⁴, and road travel is expected to surge during major tournament periods. For the upcoming World Cup, nearly 1 in 6 Americans are planning to take road trips connected to host destinations, with cars ranking as the preferred transportation mode⁵. 

This creates a unique environment for brands. Unlike traditional advertising channels, the in-car experience is directly connected to real world intent – where people are going, what they are searching for, how long they are traveling, and what they may need along the way.  

Each moment carries different intent, context, and needs, creating opportunities for brands to engage audiences when relevance is naturally highest.  

A restaurant promotion on the route to a watch party feels useful. A charging recommendation during intercity travel feels timely. A nearby retail destination surfaced near a stadium district feels contextual rather than disruptive. 

In other words, movement creates moments where utility and brand discovery can naturally align. 

Why context outperforms reach during cultural moments 

During tournaments like the World Cup, those high-intent moments multiply rapidly. Fans are not simply consuming content – they are actively navigating experiences. 

Major sporting events create high emotional engagement. Fans are more attentive, socially active, and deeply connected to the experience surrounding the event itself. 

Recent research⁶ found that brands engaging audiences through culturally relevant and contextually delivered advertising achieved significantly stronger engagement and purchase intent than more general advertising approaches. In the study, culturally aligned advertising environments drove up to 3x higher purchase intent, while contextual relevance strengthened event association and helped brands feel more naturally connected to the cultural moment itself. 

This is where in-car marketing becomes particularly powerful. Unlike traditional advertising channels that compete for attention during the match itself, mobility-based engagement creates contextually relevant touchpoints throughout the fan journey – from pre-match travel and restaurant stops to charging moments and the drive home afterward. 

As fans move through cities and make decisions in real-time, brands have an opportunity to engage in ways that feel timely, useful, and naturally connected to the moment itself.

Industries built around movement stand to benefit most 

Many of the industries expected to benefit most from large-scale cultural events depend heavily on physical visits and real world mobility. Research around the 2026 World Cup¹ points to strong economic impact across sectors such as food and hospitality, wholesale and retail, and transport related industries – all areas closely tied to large scale movement and destination based activity. 

These industries all share one thing in common: they rely on people moving through the physical world, making mobility environments an increasingly valuable channel for brand discovery and engagement. 

Brands are already using connected in-car environments to drive measurable outcomes during real world mobility moments. Across categories such as QSR, retail, and fuel, campaigns have delivered strong engagement and navigation uplift by reaching drivers while they are already in motion and close to points of sale. 

Three ways brands can activate the in-car moment  

Today, the 4screen Driver Interaction Platform enhances the driving experience across markets in North America and Europe through partnerships with leading automotive brands. During major live events like the 2026 World Cup, this creates new opportunities for brands to engage audiences throughout the fan journey, directly within the driving experience itself. 

As millions of fans move through unfamiliar cities and destinations during major cultural events, the connected car is evolving beyond navigation into a real-time discovery platform used to surface relevant destinations and services along the journey. 

Branded Pins increase discoverability and location awareness for nearby points of interest, such as match locations with up to date event information. 

Sponsored In-Car Search helps drivers discover relevant destinations directly within in-car search results during high intent moments. 

In-Car Recommendations use real time vehicle and route context to surface timely and relevant suggestions based on driver needs. 

What makes the driving environment especially valuable is that relevance is shaped in real-time through movement, proximity, route context, and vehicle signals – creating opportunities for brands to engage drivers while they are already in motion, close to points of sale, and able to act immediately. 

The future of fan engagement happens in motion 

The world’s biggest sporting moments no longer happen only inside stadiums or on television screens. They unfold across cities, destinations, and the journeys between them. As millions of fans move through host regions during events like the 2026 World Cup, mobility itself becomes part of the experience – and with it comes a new generation of contextual brand interactions. 

For brands, the opportunity is no longer only about visibility during the match itself, but about being present throughout the broader fan journey. 

Because the fan journey does not start at kickoff. It begins on the road. 

Want to explore how connected in car experiences can support your World Cup activation strategy? Get in touch with our in-car marketing experts.  

¹ FIFA, 2025
² Oxford Economics, 2025
³ Airbnb, 2026
⁴ Statista, 2022¹ FIFA, 2025
⁵ ParkMobile by Arrive, 2025
⁶ MAGNA, “Societal Sync,” Feb 2025