A new analysis from the Video Advertising Bureau published in June 2026 puts a precise number on the scale of the 2026 FIFA World Cup for U.S. advertisers: 63.9 million American adults plan to watch the tournament, spanning a five-week window from June 11 to July 19 across 16 host cities in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

The VAB report - titled How will the World Cup deliver for brands this summer? - draws on MRI-Simmons Q2 2026 Trending Topics Study data alongside research from ThinkNow and tvScientific. Released in June 2026 and addressed to VAB members, brand marketers, and agencies, the analysis frames the tournament through eight attributes that the bureau argues qualify it as what it calls premium video: relevancy, scale, attention, emotional engagement, communal connection, cross-platform accessibility, second-screening, and conversion. Each attribute carries survey data. Taken together, the numbers sketch a detailed picture of how tens of millions of people intend to experience the tournament and what, if anything, that experience is likely to cost them.

Scale and demographics: who is planning to watch

Twenty-four percent of U.S. adults 18 and older - approximately 63.9 million people - plan to watch the 2026 FIFA World Cup, according to VAB's analysis of MRI-Simmons Q2 2026 Trending Topics Study data. That headline figure masks a pronounced age skew. Among adults aged 35 to 44, the share rises to 34%, indexed at 139 against the A18+ base. Adults 25 to 34 come in at 32%, indexed at 133. Adults 18 to 24 reach 30%, indexed at 124. The 45-to-54 cohort is the only group that tracks near the overall average, at 25% and a 103 index.

Gender composition is relatively balanced by the standards of American sports audiences. According to VAB, projected viewership is 58% male and 42% female. That 42% female share is structurally significant for media buyers who routinely segment sports inventory toward male demographics by default.

The host geography helps explain some of the scale. According to VAB, the tournament is spread across 11 U.S. cities - Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, New York/New Jersey, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Seattle - plus Toronto and Vancouver in Canada, and Guadalajara, Mexico City, and Monterrey in Mexico. The tournament also brings together 48 nations, organized into 12 groups of four teams each, with the group stage running from June 11 through June 27. From there the schedule proceeds to a Round of 32 between June 28 and July 3, a Round of 16 between July 4 and July 7, quarterfinals on July 9 to 11, semifinals on July 14 to 15, and a final on July 19.

The 48-nation format is itself a change from previous editions. The 2026 tournament is the first to expand from 32 to 48 teams, producing 104 total matches - a figure that becomes commercially meaningful when multiplied against viewership projections and per-match advertising inventory.

Attention: national pride and cross-cultural curiosity

The VAB analysis draws on a May 12, 2026 For Soccer "Insights Into American World Cup Fans" survey to describe the motivational texture of U.S. viewership. Among those planning to watch, 84% agree with the statement "I like watching the World Cup because I feel connected and proud of my country," according to VAB. At the same time, 82% agree that "Watching the World Cup is a way for me to learn about different countries and cultures." The co-existence of national pride and cultural curiosity is unusual for major U.S. sports events, most of which are domestic in orientation.

The multi-team support pattern amplifies this. According to VAB's analysis of For Soccer data, 66% of U.S. soccer fans support more than one national team. The note in VAB's sourcing elaborates: 23% root for multiple countries equally, and 43% have one favourite team but care about others. That breadth of allegiance may extend commercial windows for advertisers beyond the specific match days when the U.S. team plays.

Emotional engagement metrics follow a similar pattern. According to VAB's analysis of ThinkNow Research's "International Soccer United States Expectations for 2026" (February 2026), 73% of U.S. soccer fans are excited about the 2026 World Cup. Among those planning to watch, 89% agree that watching the World Cup is a great way to connect with friends and family.

Where fans will watch: 75% at home, 40% at restaurants or bars

The distribution of planned viewing locations in the VAB report is relevant for out-of-home advertisers as well as broadcast buyers. According to VAB's MRI-Simmons analysis, 75% of those planning to watch will do so at home. Forty percent will watch at a friend or family member's house, and another 40% plan to watch at a restaurant or bar - split, according to VAB's note on the data, as 29% restaurant and 28% bar. Seventeen percent plan to watch in a fan zone or public viewing area.

The home figure is dominant, but 40% watching in commercial premises during a five-week tournament constitutes a commercially meaningful out-of-home footprint. FOX Sports and ReachTV recently announced a partnership to broadcast all 104 matches across U.S. airports - a distribution move that explicitly targets travelers and passersby who would not otherwise be watching at home or in a bar. The broadcast right to those matches sits with FOX Sports, which holds U.S. English-language television rights for the tournament.

The commercial premises viewing data intersects with a broader question about where advertising reaches these audiences. A viewer watching at a bar encounters the ambient advertising environment of that venue rather than the targeted CTV environment of home viewing. The implications for attribution and measurement are non-trivial.

Cross-platform distribution: 82% plan to watch live

Platform distribution data in the VAB analysis draws on the same MRI-Simmons Q2 2026 base. According to VAB, 61% of those planning to watch will watch live on a broadcast TV network, and 51% will watch live on a streaming service. Those two figures overlap - respondents could select all options that apply - but combined they produce a 82% share who plan to watch live on broadcast TV or a streaming service.

Beyond live viewing, 31% plan to watch on their own time via a streaming service, and another 31% plan to consume content via short clips or highlights on social media. Twenty-two percent plan to purchase tickets and attend matches in person.

The streaming figure reflects a contested distribution landscape. FOX One, which holds U.S. English-language streaming rights for all 104 matches, launched on The Roku Channel on May 26, 2026, as a premium subscription at $19.99 per month. Amazon's Fire TV also offers the full 104-match slate through a combination of FOX One and Alexa+ integration. Fire TV's World Cup coverage combines FOX One streaming rights with voice-activated access through Alexa+.

The programmatic infrastructure supporting live World Cup streaming was examined in a March 2026 Magnite report, which documented the technical requirements for delivering advertising across 104 matches, multiple time zones, localized streams, and simultaneous global viewership. CTV contribution ex-TAC for Magnite reached $82.3 million in Q1 2026 - a 30% year-over-year increase - with the World Cup window falling precisely within the company's projected full-year CTV growth period.

The advertising inventory within those live streams gained a specific addition this year. FIFA approved the insertion of advertisements during three-minute water breaks across all 104 World Cup matches, a decision confirmed in March 2026. That created a new commercial inventory category within each game window, distinct from standard broadcast breaks.

Second-screening: 59% likely to use a second device during matches

The VAB analysis draws on tvScientific's "2026 Consumer Trends Report: How TV Shapes Modern Behavior" (April 2026) for its second-screening data. According to that research, 59% of U.S. soccer fans are likely to use a second screen while watching 2026 World Cup matches. The generational breakdown is sharp: Millennials aged 27 to 42 lead at 78%, followed by Gen X aged 43 to 58 at 61%, Gen Z aged 18 to 26 at 70%, and Baby Boomers aged 59 and older at 34%.

The actions those second-screen users are likely to take - drawn from general TV viewing behavior data, not World Cup-specific intent - paint a specific picture for performance advertisers. According to tvScientific data cited by VAB, 83% text or message someone while watching TV, 78% scroll social media, 74% search for something related to what they are watching, 69% browse online shopping, 68% look up a product they saw in an advertisement while watching TV, and 59% game.

The 68% figure on looking up products seen in ads is particularly relevant for brands running World Cup spots. It suggests that over two-thirds of second-screeners will at some point use a device to search for a product or brand encountered in a television advertisement during the same viewing session. That behavior creates a direct bridge between broadcast or CTV advertising and search query intent - a dynamic that Google's coordinated World Cup features across Search, Maps, Waze, and the Gemini app are positioned to capture.

The VAB's separate streaming analysis, published in an April 2026 report that documented 209.4 million U.S. AVOD viewers, had already noted that co-viewing - where multiple people watch the same screen simultaneously - reached 60% for premium video platforms, compared to 45% for YouTube. World Cup matches watched as a communal event may amplify that co-viewing dynamic further.

Conversion: 63% more likely to buy from World Cup sponsors

The conversion data in the VAB analysis carries the most direct implication for advertisers. According to VAB's MRI-Simmons analysis, 63% of World Cup viewers are more likely to buy from brands that sponsor the World Cup. That is a self-reported preference metric, not a measured purchase outcome, but it provides a baseline for the purchase intent environment that World Cup advertising operates within.

The specific product categories where purchase intent concentrates reveal the merchandise layer of tournament engagement. According to VAB, 34% of U.S. World Cup viewers plan to purchase team jerseys. Twenty-nine percent plan to buy clothing or apparel other than jerseys - hoodies, jackets, and similar items. Accessories such as scarves and caps attract 25%, small souvenirs 23%, soccer balls 20%, flags 17%, face paint 14%, noise makers such as vuvuzelas and clappers 12%, and replica trophies 10%.

Those categories intersect with e-commerce, retail, and sporting goods advertising. A viewer who plans to buy a jersey is, simultaneously, an audience for kit manufacturers, licensed apparel retailers, and general sporting goods platforms running World Cup inventory. The relationship between viewing intent and merchandise purchase intent creates a data point that advertisers in those categories can translate into media planning decisions.

The broader context here is the VAB-TVision report from February 2026, which found that premium video platforms deliver 33% stronger co-viewing and 14% higher eyes-on-screen attention than YouTube on CTV. The World Cup, distributed across both linear broadcast and premium streaming platforms, sits within the premium video definition that VAB's measurement framework uses. That structural argument - that premium live sports content commands higher attention and lower ad-skipping than non-premium video - is the foundation on which the conversion data in the current report rests.

What this data means for media planning

The marketing community's interest in the VAB data is not confined to the headline viewer figures. For media buyers and performance marketers, several structural points emerge from the numbers.

First, the audience age distribution is more concentrated in the 35-to-44 bracket than in the 18-to-24 bracket. Gen Z's watch intention (30%) is strong in absolute terms but lower indexed than the 35-44 cohort. Advertisers targeting younger consumers may find the social media clip distribution - planned by 31% of viewers - a more efficient entry point than live broadcast buys.

Second, the second-screen search and shopping behavior data creates a measurable bridge between brand advertising during live matches and performance outcomes later in the viewing session. The 74% who search for something related to what they are watching, combined with the 68% who look up products from advertisements, suggests that live World Cup advertising can produce near-simultaneous search activity. PPC Land has documented how Google's World Cup search features - including lock screen score pinning and Gemini Scheduled Actions - are designed to keep engaged fans within Google's ecosystem throughout the tournament.

Third, the 82% cross-platform live viewing share - spanning broadcast TV and streaming together - reflects the fragmented distribution landscape that advertisers must navigate. No single platform reaches all planned live viewers. The ad-supported streaming landscape reached 210 million U.S. viewers in 2026 according to VAB's April analysis, but tournament matches are distributed across multiple broadcast and streaming rights holders, requiring multi-platform campaign execution to achieve comparable reach to a single linear broadcast environment.

The VAB report is authored by Jason Wiese (EVP, Strategic Insights and Measurement), Reed Kiely (VP, Data Insights and Trends), Karolina Guillen (Associate Director, Insights, Strategy and Analytics), and Amanda Cashman (Insights Analyst). VAB is headquartered at 220 East 42nd Street, Floor 36, New York, NY 10017.

Timeline

Summary

Who: The Video Advertising Bureau (VAB), a U.S. trade organization representing premium multiscreen TV providers and distributors, published the analysis. The report was authored by Jason Wiese, Reed Kiely, Karolina Guillen, and Amanda Cashman. Data sources include VAB analysis of MRI-Simmons Q2 2026 Trending Topics Study, ThinkNow Research's "International Soccer United States Expectations for 2026" (February 2026), and tvScientific's "2026 Consumer Trends Report" (April 2026).

What: A data analysis examining U.S. viewership intent, audience demographics, viewing location, platform distribution, second-screen behavior, and purchase intent for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Key figures include 63.9 million U.S. adults (24% of A18+) planning to watch; 82% intending to watch live on broadcast TV or streaming; 59% of soccer fans likely to use a second screen during matches; and 63% of viewers more likely to buy from brands that sponsor the tournament.

When: The VAB analysis was published in June 2026. The tournament itself runs from June 11 to July 19, 2026, with the final scheduled for July 19 in a host city venue.

Where: The 2026 FIFA World Cup is hosted across 16 cities in the United States (11 cities), Canada (Toronto, Vancouver), and Mexico (Guadalajara, Mexico City, Monterrey). The VAB analysis applies to the U.S. adult population and U.S. viewing intent specifically.

Why: The report addresses a structural question for U.S. advertisers: whether the 2026 World Cup's five-week duration, expanded 48-team field, and host-nation status for the United States translates into a materially larger and more commercially actionable audience than previous editions. The data on purchase intent for sponsors (63%), second-screen commerce behavior (69% browse online shopping during TV viewing), and multi-platform live distribution (82% planning live broadcast or streaming viewing) provides the numerical framework for that assessment.