• by Randy Gudiel , 4 hours ago

Now that the Super Bowl is behind us, a familiar tension has set in. Some brands are locked in because of it, while others are quietly wondering if they’ve missed the window for the World Cup.

Inventory headlines are circulating. Big sponsors are announced, and the narrative starts to feel final.

For small and mid-sized brands, the question becomes equal parts simple and heavy: Is there still a way in for us?

While a fair question, it’s also the wrong place to start.

Let me be direct. If your definition of “playing the World Cup” means buying in-game media, broadcast adjacency, or mass reach placements tied to kickoff moments, then yes, most of that is already spoken for. And whatever is left will likely be either expensive, crowded, or misaligned with what smaller brands need to achieve.

But that doesn’t mean there’s no opportunity left. It means the opportunity is simply not where everyone else is looking.

Don’t start with where. Start with why. Too many brands begin with placement instead of purpose. They ask, “where can we show up?” instead of asking “what role do we want to play?” And for small brands in particular, the World Cup should not be treated as a media buy when in truth it’s something far greater: a cultural moment.

And environments do not disappear just because premium inventory is sold. They evolve.

So no, you’re not late. But it is time to get honest. February and early March are when hesitation peaks. It’s also when clarity should start.

This is the moment to decide whether the World Cup is about scale or relevance for your brand.

Which one will be your priority?

Know that big brands typically optimize for dominance, while local brands typically win by optimizing for meaning.

That means asking better questions now, instead of scrambling later, and recognizing that the answers shouldn’t depend on brackets or broadcast rights.

• What moments matter to our audience beyond the match?
• What behaviors repeat regardless of who wins?
• Where do we naturally show up in people’s lives when they gather, react, and talk?

Stop looking for space. Start looking for time. The most overlooked opportunity in the World Cup is time, not placement.

Time before matches when people prepare, search, plan, and coordinate. Time after matches when emotion importantly drives conversation, content sharing and action. Time on weekends when families gather and routines shift.

Consider that these windows exist for every match, every week, across the entire tournament.  That’s actually a lot of time. And what’s better is that it’s all predictable. It’s also far less crowded than the 90-minute slots everyone’s fighting over.

Get comfortable asking yourself, “What are we trying to earn?” If the goal is mass reach, then yes, the door may feel closed.

If the goal is relevance, connection, and/or cultural alignment — or perhaps all three — then the door is still very much open.

Should we chase what’s already crowded, or do we design for how people actually experience the World Cup in its totality?

Because the brands that win will not be the ones that arrived first. They will be the ones that arrived with clarity.