When the FIFA World Cup™ comes to Seattle this summer, hosting watch parties is a great way to bring customers to your establishment.
There are a few different kinds of events you can have:
- A commercial event in which sponsorship revenue is involved, or if you charge admission
- A non-commercial event that is part of normal operations, and there is no fee for admittance nor any kind of sponsorship
- A special non-commercial event in which there is no fee for admission, but there are more than 1,000 people in attendance
As a restaurant or hotel, you might have a non-commercial event—the game will be on TV, you add food and drink specials, and a gathering of fans has a great time.
You may need to get a license from FIFA, and there are rules around how you can advertise it. For instance, if you are a grocery store in Seattle and want to put “Welcome FIFA World Cup 26™” on your reader board, you should be OK with that exact wording.
But if you are a single-branded sports retail store, a brewery, a restaurant or an airport, you can’t use that language. These kinds of businesses are in direct competition with FIFA’s sponsors.
You also can’t include the FIFA logo.
For businesses like yours, you can go to Visit Seattle’s website, where they have an entire playbook of logos and brands that you can use and customize for your own needs. You can either download it with the link above or visit their website to request a copy.
To find out how to get a license for your watch party, or if you have more questions, the Seattle Sports Commission has created a super-helpful Watch Party Playbook to walk you through the process and learn the dos and don’ts around the event.
Seattle games (All times are PST):
- June 15: Belgium vs. Egypt, noon
- June 19: USA vs. Australia, noon
- June 24: Qatar vs. Wales/Bosnia & Herzegovina/Italy/Northern Ireland, noon
- June 26: Egypt vs. Iran, 8 p.m.
- July 1: Round of 32, TBD
- July 6: Round of 16, TBD
