McDonald's ends its 32-year FIFA World Cup sponsorship.
McDonald's is ending its FIFA World Cup sponsorship after 32 years, Adweek reported on 23 October. The move follows a 2026 World Cup campaign that the company's own finance chief said fell short of expectations.
The partnership began in 1994 and covered nine men's World Cups up to and including 2026, according to InformaBTL; the last renewal, in May 2023, took in the 2023 Women's World Cup and this year's tournament. McDonald's summer campaign, made by Wieden+Kennedy New York, ran in more than 110 countries and was billed at the time as the company's biggest marketing push of 2026. On the second-quarter earnings call, chief financial officer Ian Borden said the campaign lifted the business and excited the system but "underperformed versus our expectations".
Adweek frames the exit as part of a shift towards McDonald's own IP. Sport Business Media reports the company plans fewer, bigger campaigns built on its brand, menu and prices rather than third-party properties, and that it keeps its title partnership of France's Ligue 1 and the McDonald's All-American Games. InformaBTL reports that US comparable sales grew 0.8% in the second quarter, against 2.5% a year earlier.
Neither McDonald's nor FIFA has issued a statement in the coverage so far. The formal end date, the value of the deal and whether FIFA has lined up a new restaurant partner are not known.
With Saudi Arabia hosting the 2034 World Cup, an open restaurant category at FIFA is worth watching for food brands with Gulf ambitions. The wider point for marketers in the region is McDonald's own conclusion: after one of sport's longest sponsorships, it decided its menu and price messages work harder than a borrowed tournament.
Why it matters
One of sport's longest sponsorships is ending because the brand thinks its own assets now work harder than a borrowed tournament.
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