World Cup fans used collective language such as “we,” “our” and “us” 70% more often when posting from the public spaces around stadiums than from inside them, according to The Fandom Effect: Sports Urbanism 2026, a new three-part study released from the Gensler Research Institute, ROAR and Oxford Economics. The study sought to establish a baseline understanding of how people engage with sports venues in their area, use the 2026 FIFA World Cup to understand the fan experience journey during the tournament and measure the impact post-tournament across 16 host cities.
When fans’ posts included words associated with awe, such as “goosebumps,” “unreal” and “electric,” their use of collective language rose by 189%. The findings suggest that the awe-inspiring spaces around a venue, not just the venue itself, are where crowds transform into communities.
Community space
The report lands as sports-anchored mixed-use districts (SMDs) are expected to attract more than $100b in investment globally over the next 15 years. The research builds on three sources a baseline survey of 5,858 adults across 17 cities in the U.S. and Canada, social listening study which geofenced every host stadium and filtered and analyzed hundreds of thousands of fan posts, and a post-tournament sentiment survey of host-city residents
“The stadium is where people watch the game, but it’s the space around it where fans told us they feel like they become part of something,” said Lauren Adams, global director of lifestyle research at Gensler. “If we don’t design that space with the same intentionality as the bowl, we’re passing up the opportunity to maximize the most valuable part of the experience.”
Arrival, entry, and ticketing were the only consistently negative themes that emerged from our social listening study. They were also the one stage of the fan journey where language associated with awe was almost entirely absent. Once inside, 80% said it was easy to view the action from their seats.
The research identifies the entry sequence as the lowest-risk, highest-return place to invest in design, both for major events and for everyday use.
Districts fall short
The baseline survey conducted prior to the World Cup, showed that the areas around venues are not yet delivering the same experience as the venues themselves. On average across the 73 venues and their districts, 87% of respondents who recently visited rated the venue experience positively, compared with 69% of respondents for the surrounding district. An average of 90% would recommend the venue, compared with 71% for the district.
Safety and family offerings account for much of that gap. 69% ranked safety among the top three qualities of a good sports district. 57% said nearby family activities would make them more likely to buy a ticket, yet only 39% found such activities around the venue they most recently visited.
Interest in these districts goes well beyond game day. Nine in 10 respondents are open to visiting on a non-event day. Food festivals (42%), seasonal or holiday events (37%) and farmers markets (34%) topped the list of draws.
People who live or work near a venue are already the most engaged: 84% seek out events at specific venues because of their attachment to the surrounding area, compared with 56% of non-locals.
Host-city residents drew a clear line between event-day operations and everyday city life. For future events, respondents to the post-World Cup survey want cities to prioritize traffic management (41%) and safe public areas (39%). Over the long term, they want more reliable public transit (42%), cleaner and better-maintained public spaces (41%), and investment across neighborhoods rather than only in event areas (38%).
The report outlines five steps for turning sports districts into year-round civic spaces, namely to improve access and perceptions of safety, deepen the offer for locals, add low- or no-cost attractions, zone the mix of uses to welcome different audiences, and program festivals and seasonal events that create the same sense of shared experience as game day.