What the World Cup Understands About Fan Content That the Olympics Can Learn From

Every time I open social media lately, I'm greeted with content featuring foreign travelers experiencing American, Mexican, or Canadian culture for the first time. Whether it's a stop at Buc-ee's, THE cheese pull at Chili's, complimentary chips and salsa at a Mexican restaurant, or even the novelty of ranch dressing, people can't seem to get enough of these seemingly ordinary experiences.

The best part? Audiences are eating it up. We’re seeing a wave of content around the FIFA World Cup that goes beyond the matches themselves, and it feels like even for a moment, the world is coming together in a beautiful and simple way.

The interesting part is that much of this content isn’t really about futboll or soccer. It’s about cultural discovery.

To me, this raises a question: why don’t we typically see the same volume of “foreign travelers experience the host country for the first time” content around the Olympics?

One answer could be that the World Cup naturally creates this kind of content because fan culture travels with the sport, because futbol fans travel. Fans arrive with their national pride, chants, jerseys, flags, rituals, and a built-in reason to explore their host city. They will even parade down the streets prior to games, most notably the Netherlands team shipping their double decker orange bus to another country. Some won’t even have tickets to the games; they just want to be where their team is. The World Cup sees an average of 2.5 to 5 million visitors per host country.  These travelers are not just attending a match; they are participating in a global fan movement.

The Olympics have a much more different look and feel. Olympic storytelling has historically centered around the athletes and their stories, the medal counts, national pride, and broadcast moments for prime-time games. It has slightly more gravitas and legacy in its branding. This is powerful, but it often keeps the story inside the competition venue. The average fan or visitor becomes a spectator, not necessarily a storyteller. There are the widely watched opening and closing ceremonies, but the athletes are secluded to their villages and not as visible outside their competitions. For the Paris Summer Olympics, Paris saw approximately 1.7 million international guests/tourists, which is about half or less of what the World Cup typically brings.

This is where LA28 has a major opportunity.

The 2028 Summer Olympics will take place across a broad Southern California footprint, with venues spread across zones including DTLA, Exposition Park, Inglewood, Long Beach, Pasadena, Venice, Anaheim, and more. The Summer Olympics typically see more viewership and travel than the Winter Olympics overall. LA28 is already encouraging visitors to think about the Games by zone and experience, not just by individual event. This can help create a natural opportunity to turn the Games into a broader cultural journey and showcase more of the California and American landscape.

Imagine content built around international visitors experiencing Los Angeles and California for the first time between Olympic events:

• Transportation brands: "First Time in America"

  • Following international visitors from airport arrival through their Olympic journey

• ·       Hospitality/Lodging brands: "Live Like a Local During LA28"

  • Connecting visitors with neighborhoods and experiences beyond Olympic venues

• Finance or entertainment brands: "The Olympic Fan Passport"

  • Rewarding visitors for exploring local businesses and attractions

• Auto brands: "America via Route 101"

  • Road-trip content featuring fans traveling between local attractions and Olympic venues

• CPG brands: “Have a Seat at Our Table”

  • Bringing together fans from different countries to share local traditions, chants, and foods

This is the type of content that feels organic because it is rooted in everyday experience, not advertising.

For brands, that should be the lesson.

The opportunity around LA28 should not be seen as just logo placement or media impressions. Brands who do this successfully will help fans create stories worth sharing just by being present and authentic to themselves. While the Olympics have been notorious for being stricter than FIFA in their advertising guidelines, brands can still find ways to be creative.

Even local businesses can participate by creating useful, authentic, and culturally relevant experiences for visitors, without spending a fortune.

For example, they can create:

• Local city guides built for international fans

• Creator-led neighborhood tours or scavenger hunts

• Fan passport programs and incentives

• Local food challenges or crawls

• Sponsored meetups that bring different countries together

The brands that win will not necessarily be the ones that interrupt the Olympic experience to force the eyeballs. The ones that help shape it will be the most memorable, and in turn see the best results.

The World Cup has shown us that global sports content does not stop at the final whistle. It extends into restaurants and pubs, airports, public squares, sidewalks, rideshares, fan zones, and local neighborhoods.

LA28 has the chance to do the same for the Olympics. The most shareable moments from a global event may not always happen inside the stadium. They may happen when someone experiences the host culture for the very first time.

So I mean this when I say – Freddy – I hope we’re on your itinerary in 2028!