The 2026 FIFA World Cup will be far more than the largest sporting event in history. For Mexico, the United States, and Canada, it represents an economic platform capable of accelerating investment, reshaping supply chains, and reinforcing North America as a globally competitive productive and logistics bloc.
This article is a continuation of the panel “All I Do Is Win: Sports as North America’s Economic Engine,” held during the North Capital Forum 2025, which Prodensa’s experts attended firsthand. Based on the insights shared during that discussion, we are publishing this piece to share key takeaways with business leaders and investors seeking to do business in Mexico and across North America.
For companies already operating—or planning to operate—in Mexico and the broader region, sports are no longer just entertainment. They are economic infrastructure, commercial diplomacy, and an industrial platform. Understanding this dynamic will be critical to capturing real opportunities in manufacturing, logistics, services, talent, and supply chains.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup, jointly hosted by Mexico, the United States, and Canada, will be followed by the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games and a continuous succession of global events: collegiate championships, women’s world cups, rugby tournaments, Winter Games, and international competitions extending well into the 2030s.
As explained by T. K. Harvey, Vice President of Culture and Sports Diplomacy at the Meridian International Center, these events act as catalysts for connecting economies, cultures, and communities in an increasingly fragmented global context. This is not only about massive audiences—the last World Cup final surpassed 1.5 billion viewers—but about the power of sports to convene investment, accelerate projects, and generate cross-border cooperation.
For the productive sector, this alignment of governments, cities, and investors around global events means that decisions move faster. Infrastructure, permits, financing, and public–private partnerships advance at an unusually rapid pace.
From the standpoint of institutional investors, sports have evolved into a sophisticated asset class. Reggie Love, Senior Advisor at Apollo Global Management, highlighted that growth is no longer driven only by teams or stadiums, but by the broader ecosystem built around sports.
Technology, software, data analytics, artificial intelligence, digital media, and new consumption models are quietly capturing value. Companies optimizing performance, nutrition, recovery, recruitment, and talent management today are valued in the billions—even if they remain outside the public spotlight.
A key structural shift reinforces this trend: large institutional funds can now invest directly in teams and leagues, something that was not possible a decade ago. The result has been sustained valuation growth, professionalized management, and greater appetite for long-term investment.
For Mexico and North America, this opens a clear window for advanced manufacturing, technology development, and specialized services to integrate into this ecosystem—from sports equipment and wearables to infrastructure, logistics, and digital solutions.
Travis Murphy, founder of Jetr Global and former U.S. diplomat, argued that sports should be understood as a public policy and economic tool, on par with energy, trade, or technology.
The 2026 World Cup will be a massive experiment: 104 matches in 16 host cities, spanning three countries with different legal, regulatory, and cultural systems. Beyond the operational challenge, however, lies a largely untapped opportunity—to use these events as platforms for trade missions, joint innovation, and cross-border industrial cooperation.
For manufacturing and supply chain companies, sporting events create ideal conditions for technology showcases, investment agreements, production relocation, and nation-brand positioning. They are moments when global decision-makers are already present, engaged, and open to new narratives.
From inside the organization, Jurgen Mainka, Chief Tournament Officer for the 2026 World Cup in Mexico, made it clear that there is no playbook for an event of this scale. Three countries, 16 host cities, 74 functional areas, and a shifting geopolitical environment require solutions to be built in real time.
For Mexico, the World Cup is also a test of institutional and operational capacity. It is not only about stadiums, but about transportation, security, workforce readiness, administrative processes, and coordination across levels of government.
This effort creates a meaningful spillover effect for the private sector, encouraging process standardization, supplier professionalization, and the development of new local capabilities—all of which become part of the long-term legacy for industrial and logistics investment.
Phil Clement, CEO of World Business Chicago, emphasized that caution is not the strategy—ambition is. Major sporting events allow cities (and regions) to reposition themselves in the minds of investors, talent, and global companies.
Sports generate an emotional connection that no institutional campaign can replicate. That emotion opens the door to conversations about sustainability, innovation, culture, talent, and business opportunity.
Concrete examples show that when business leaders are convened around a sporting event, practical solutions emerge—from sustainable infrastructure to new public–private collaboration models. For Mexico’s industrial cities, this represents an opportunity to be seen not only as manufacturing centers, but as complete ecosystems for innovation and quality of life.
From the Mexican government’s perspective, Gabriela Cuevas, Mexico’s representative for the 2026 World Cup, stressed that it is especially important for the productive sector that the tournament benefit not only three host cities, but the entire country.
The strategy includes connecting host cities with neighboring states, boosting regional tourism, promoting “Made in Mexico” products, and deploying a cultural program that reflects the country’s diversity. More importantly, the goal is to leave measurable benefits in health, well-being, employment, and community development.
The trinational nature of the 2026 World Cup opens a broader conversation about North America as a bloc. Mainka highlighted the concept of capacity building—using this process to create replicable models of governance, financing, and large-event organization that could extend to Central America and the Caribbean.
For industry, this matters because regional integration is not driven only by trade agreements. It also takes shape through operational standards, talent development, infrastructure, and collaboration models. In this context, sports function as a laboratory for integration.
For executives, investors, and manufacturing leaders, the panel’s message was direct:
Sports accelerate investment and infrastructure decisions.
Major events attract capital, talent, and global attention.
Mexico and North America are redefining their global narrative.
Companies that anticipate these shifts can integrate into new value chains.
This is not about sponsoring an event—it is about understanding how these moments transform the business environment, from faster permitting to new industrial clusters and relocation opportunities.
Large-scale international competitions—such as the FIFA World Cup or Olympic Games—that act as economic accelerators by mobilizing infrastructure investment, public–private partnerships, and cross-border coordination.
The network of industries linked to sports, including infrastructure, manufacturing, logistics, technology, media, tourism, and services, which together generate long-term economic value beyond the event itself.
A strategy in which major events are used as catalysts to fast-track infrastructure, urban development, regulatory alignment, and investment attraction.
Processes or events that strengthen economic integration across countries by aligning standards, talent, logistics, and investment frameworks—in this case, across North America.
The process of developing long-term institutional, operational, and human capabilities—such as governance models, workforce skills, infrastructure, and execution frameworks—that remain in place after a major event and enable sustained economic and industrial growth.
Yes. Its impact extends to manufacturing, logistics, construction, technology, services, and supply chains across North America.
By integrating into infrastructure projects, supplier networks, technology solutions, talent programs, and long-term regional initiatives tied to the event.
Yes. The World Cup accelerates projects and capabilities that remain in place for decades, shaping investment conditions well beyond the tournament.
Mexico combines manufacturing scale, geographic connectivity, and workforce depth, positioning it as a central node in the World Cup’s economic legacy.
The FIFA World Cup 2026 should be understood as an economic and industrial platform, not just a sporting event.
Major events accelerate decision-making, infrastructure investment, and cross-border integration.
Mexico has an opportunity to convert global attention into long-term manufacturing, logistics, and services growth.
Companies that engage early can integrate into new value chains created by this mega-decade of sports in North America.