FIFA World Cup, LA Olympics 28, and the Business of Customer Experience

Because we are experience designers (of fan experience transportation hubs and systems), who  also happen to be mega-soccer fans, three years before the first ball was kicked at MetLife Stadium, The Petrova Experience keynoted at the New Jersey Travel and Tourism Conference in 2023, talking about how to map the journey for fans and maximize local experiences. We continued that conversation last year, leading the panel “Leveraging the World Cup as Transportation’s Signature Moment” at the New Jersey TransAction Conference, alongside experts from FIFA, PANYNJ, Amtrak, and New Jersey Transit.

In preparation for the World Cup games, the New York region built a compliant, multi‑agency mobility plan for moving fans to and from MetLife Stadium. And it is emerging as a live case study for transportation best practices for mega-events. With the Olympics coming to Los Angeles in 2028, those and other fan experience lessons are well-timed.

Major sporting events are built around competition, national and local pride, and global celebration and engagement. They invite, to a single space at a single time, large groups of individuals with varying needs, wants and expectations. All in a high-stakes atmosphere where fans commit time, money, and energy. As such, at their core, sporting mega-events are customer experience business. In the case of FIFA World Cup 2026 or the upcoming LA 2028 Olympic Games, they succeed or fail based on how well millions of people move, spend, and feel through every phase of their experience journey. Importantly, the stadium is only one part of that journey. The actual customer experience challenge, and the significant CX opportunity, exists in the intentional design of the end-to-end fan journey.

Below, we discuss three reasons why major sporting events like World Cup and the upcoming Olympic games are, fundamentally, customer experience business. And how to generate opportunity and revenue from that business by delivering on customer happiness.

1 End‑to‑End Communication: The Journey Starts Before Fans Arrive and Extends After Fans Depart

I use the terms arrival and departure intentionally, because there is much to be applied from international airport best practices to fan experience design and management at mega-events, as I discuss further in reason two. Fans do not become the responsibility of the event organizers or the stadium the moment they arrive at the stadium. In fact, arrival is a journey stage that occurs many steps into the navigation of their end-to end journey, which often begins months before the match.

Think about ticket purchasing, travel decisions for the long and short legs of trip to the stadium, accommodation selection, and more. Through every moment that leads to game day arrival, communication must serve as the backbone of the journey.

On the most basic level, around the idea of transportation to and from the stadium (an important consideration in whether or not the fan can complete a ticket purchase), communication must answer three essential questions. First, how do I get to the stadium? This includes what public transportation options are available. And be mindful, in the lead-up to events like LA Olympics 2028, that public transportation takes a variety of forms, including the implementation of modes new to the market and new to national and international travelers. Case in point, at the end of 2025, Archer Aviation was named the official Air Taxi Partner of LA Games 2028. Innovative modes of transportation require a new focus on communication to fans that includes information, education, and trust building.

Customer-first communication builds customer trust. When trust takes shape prior to event arrival, fans are more likely to engage fully in the journey. This means that, through arrival, seating, watching the game and walking around concession areas, they move seamlessly through the experience modes of task, discovery, entertainment, and aspiration. Wrapped in trust-oriented communication, fans are confident enough to relax and enjoy the experience fully before the game starts. And to maintain that sense of calm confidence through the departure process after the game ends. In that state, supported by clear communication, fans are able to navigate seamlessly, improving the flow in and out of the stadium. They are also able to take advantage of purchasing opportunities. The calm fan who feels a sense of trust, and is enjoying the experience, is more likely to choose the concessions with the upcharges and to purchase souvenirs that remind them of a great experience.

A second key question fan communication must answer is how do I get home safely? The answer to this question requires coordinated communication across multiple channels and stakeholders. That includes ticketing platforms, transit authorities and relevant city agencies. As well as stadium operators and security teams, and hospitality partners and vendors. A worst case scenario is a fan who has experienced a positive, supportive journey through the last play of the game, then feels lost, exhausted, and abandoned after the final play. From an experience communication point of view, it is important to keep the fan’s state of happiness elevated when the game is over through the trip out of the stadium and home.

That sense of happiness facilitates patience necessary to deal with inevitable travel chokepoints and wait times. It cannot be achieved when communication is fragmented. Fragmented communication leaves fans feeling lost. Unified, consistent communication, on the other hand, keeps fans feeling confident, cared for, and supported. Importantly, while developing that unified communication, consider all the modes through which you interact with fans on their journey from the stadium. That includes physical and digital static and dynamic signage and wayfinding. It also includes supported communication through fan and travel apps. Audio announcements at the stadium, and fan experience ambassadors along the journey. As fans make their way from the stadium to their chosen modes of transportation, the same media should be used across providers to leverage the extended fan experience. To maintain the desired experience state, fans should feel like their event experience extends along their journey back home. It does not end abruptly at the stadium exit.

As we have seen in our work, fans need predictability, not just information. They require – and deserve – communication that reduces cognitive load, anticipates and proactively addresses questions, and guides them through their end-to-end journey with clarity and empathy.

2 Arrival and Departure: Airport Lobby Lessons for Stadiums

Something we uncovered when designing the JFK Terminal 5 lobby, and in subsequent airport lobby experiences, is that the space must anticipate and serve customer needs during peak travel times and seamlessly support employee experience. The arrival and departure needs at stadiums during major events can learn and apply these lessons from the airport environment.

When fans leave their transit mode, approach the venue, and enter the security queue, they are experiencing a high‑stakes arrival moment. In customer experience terms, at this moment, stadiums function much like airport lobbies. They manage large crowds and time‑sensitive movement. There is high emotional energy, and a mix of seasoned and first‑time visitors who need clarity, confidence, and direction. In real-time, with no time to spare.

But the more significant pressure point that can break the overall experience if it is handled improperly, is departure. Why? Although the start of a game is a fixed time, fans arrived in staggered patterns based largely on their own, self-directed preferences. Some fans (like some airport travelers), like to arrive as early as possible to give themselves time to walk around the stadium, get oriented, enjoy shopping and concessions before heading to their seats. Others rush in right before the game starts (a peak arrival time). And still others may arrive after the game begins.

Departure, on the other hand, is fixed. When 60,000–80,000 people leave a stadium at the same time, the environment can become a perfect storm of high confusion and high stress. Fans are tired, emotionally charged, and eager to get home. One side has just suffered a loss. Another is amped over a win. This is where customer experience design matters most, from a crowd management point of view and a fan experience point of view.

A well‑designed departure experience includes four key elements: clear wayfinding, predictable exit routes, real-time communication, and frontline support.

Clear wayfinding anticipates crowd flow. It empowers fans to manage their own navigation, reducing bottlenecks, backtracking, and journey interruptions. Think about a fan, we will call him Jack. It is his first time in the stadium and he is overwhelmed. Having no frame of reference for the space, he feels like he is being swallowed by a crowd. And, because he does not know which direction to take, he stands, confused, in the middle of the path out of the stadium.

Done right, wayfinding helps reduce painpoint moments like this that undermine not only Jack’s individual experience, but  the experience (and overall safety) of those around him.

Predictable exit routes reduce bottlenecks. They allow fans to make path of travel decisions when there is sufficient space and time to move along that path. This improves the overall people flow through the space, minimizing instances of backtracking and stopping mid-journey. In the high-stakes emotional moment of departure from a mega-event, when tensions can peak and people are feeling tired or overwhelmed, easy-to-find and access exit routes help alleviate tension on the infrastructure and the individuals moving through it.

Real-time communication guides fans to transit options, rideshare, and parking locations. It enables the stadium to provide relevant messaging that impact fans’ decisions about next steps. Clear communication, as a rule, helps keep fans feeling informed and capable. It reduces their need to stop and ask for help, confirms they are on the right path of travel, and alleviates feelings of uncertainty and anxiety. Taken in full, real-time communication enables smoother, calmer movement out of the arena. And facilitates smooth transitions to public transit and other travel modes for the journey home.

Finally, frontline support, positioned at journey decision points (not only at gates), helps facilitate seamless movement out of the arena. Support helps keep the crowd calm and confident as they make their way home. Designing support locations at spaces in addition to gates reduces bottlenecks and demonstrates an underlying respect for the time and needs of fans.

An important takeaway, here, is a lesson we bring from designing transportation experiences at transit hubs and airports. When the departure experience is not designed intentionally, frustration spreads quickly. It never stops at one frustrated or confused person. Panic spreads through crowds, especially a crowd that is already in a high emotional state. Last impressions are as important as first ones. If customer experience fails during the departure phase of the journey, it colors the entire event experience. Regardless of how many other touchpoints along the journey you got right. Conversely, when fans leave the arena with a sense of ease, they depart feeling safe, supported, and satisfied. Even if not every phase of their experience went perfectly.

Concessions and Revenue: Customer Happiness Drives Spend

Seamless journeys drive revenue. Customers who feel confident and supported spend more money. We know this simple customer experience principle from airport projects and our work leveraging customer experience for non-aeronautical revenue.

Sporting events, and the fan journeys built around them, are perfect examples of experience excellence as revenue generator. Fans arrive excited, energized, and emotionally invested. Assuming arrival and communication experiences are seamless and supported, that emotional energy translates to positive discretionary spend. Fans buy more food and merchandise because they are motivated to participate fully in the experience and to immortalize it with souvenirs. They tolerate the stadium’s premium pricing. In fact, they are inclined to enthusiastically choose premium experiences because the overall experience feels worth it.

The numbers bear this out in the airport environment. In 2025, JD Power found that passengers who rate their experience as “just ok” spend an average of $25.85 in the terminal. By contrast, passengers who rate their experience as “perfect,” spend $42.39. Consider this in the stadium environment, where the average price of a soda at a 2026 FIFA World Cup game is $7.75.

The path to significantly higher revenue is clear when that path is built on the foundation of superior customer experience journeys. But, if the journey is stressful, confusing, or chaotic, spend drops. Fans retreat. They avoid lines and skip purchases. They leave early.

Major Events are Customer Experience Business

The World Cup and the Olympics are global celebrations of athletic excellence and opportunities to express national and local pride. But behind the spectacle of these mega-events is a complex, high‑stakes customer experience operation that determines whether fans feel exhilarated or exhausted. The same is true for smaller-scale fan experience events, too. In all cases, end-to end communication, the arrival/departure experience, and concession and revenue are essential pieces of that customer experience operation that determine ROI for stadiums and other event stakeholders.

Human experiences, designed holistically and with intention, leave fans not merely satisfied, but delighted. Talk with us about how to leverage customer experience for maximum value for fans, stadiums, and stakeholders.