Fanatics has won the right to handle on-site retail across the 2026 men’s World Cup, another step in the company’s push to broaden its business internationally.
The world’s largest seller of licensed sports merchandise, Fanatics has prioritized overseas expansion in recent years. That includes e-commerce deals with some of the world’s biggest soccer teams, and on-site retail agreements with events around the globe. To date, the company has handled in-venue sales at the UEFA Euro men’s and women’s tournaments, all of the NFL international games, MLB’s Tokyo Series, the NHL’s overseas games, plus global events for both the WWE and UFC.
Though the FIFA World Cup will be held primarily in the U.S., there are games in Canada and Mexico, and organizers expect more than a million international fans to attend games across America. Many of them will be fans who aren’t already in Fanatics’ database.
As part of the deal, which was announced Thursday, Fanatics will handle in-stadium retail operations at all 16 venues. Some of those (Levi’s Stadium and Mercedes-Benz Stadium) are venues where Fanatics has pre-existing relationships. Others will be new to the company. Fanatics will help curate the merchandise selection alongside FIFA’s partners, and will have the right to make and sell some of its own products as well.
A representative for Fanatics declined to comment on the financial specifics.
Each World Cup venue will have 15-22 sales locations and Fanatics will also operate retail at fan festivals around each host city. In total, there will be more than 2,000 total points of sale, according to the company. Fanatics said in a statement that the event will be “the most expansive on-site retail operation” it has ever managed.
Fanatics previously worked with FIFA on the 2025 Club World Cup. The men’s World Cup will run from June 11 to July 19 next year. The draw will be held later this week in Washington, D.C.
