Personalised fan experiences top 2030 World Cup study

Designit has published survey findings identifying personalised fan experiences as the biggest opportunity to improve the live experience at the 2030 FIFA World Cup. The results place stadium immersion well behind broader issues across the fan journey.

Among those surveyed, 40% identified personalised experiences as the main area for improvement. Accessibility and inclusion ranked next at 27%, followed by seamless digital journeys at 20%, while only 13% chose immersive stadium experiences.

The findings draw attention to the wider structure of the tournament, which is set to span Europe, South America and Africa. Matches are due to take place in Spain, Portugal and Morocco, with additional games in Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay as part of the competition's centenary edition.

That spread creates a more complex environment for organisers, transport providers, host cities, venue operators and brands trying to shape the experience for travelling supporters. It also raises questions about how fans move between ticketing systems, public transport, accessibility services, fan zones and hospitality offers across several countries and institutions.

Beyond stadiums

Nick Merritt, Executive director for UK and Ireland at Designit, said modern venues are no longer the main point of difference at major tournaments. In his view, the weaker parts of the fan experience often sit outside the match itself.

"Modern stadium infrastructure across major tournaments has reached a consistently high standard, so it is increasingly the baseline expectation rather than the differentiator.

"What varies is everything else: how fans get there, how included they feel, and how well the experience is personalised to who they are and why they've come. That starts long before they reach their seat and continues for hours, even days, after the final whistle.

"The bigger challenge for 2030 will be connecting everything around the match: ticketing, public transport, accessibility services and hospitality. These services may be delivered by different organisations, but fans experience them as one journey."

The argument marks a shift away from the common emphasis on stadium development as the centrepiece of tournament preparation. While host countries continue to invest in venues, the survey suggests design specialists see more room for improvement in the connected services around attendance.

That includes the practical parts of the day that shape how supporters remember a trip: finding information, joining queues, travelling across a city, reaching fan areas and getting back after the final whistle. In a tournament spread across three continents, those touchpoints may matter more than the match setting itself for many visitors.

Joined-up journeys

Merritt said the physical and digital elements of the trip need to be designed together rather than treated as separate layers. He pointed to the limits of improving one part of the experience while leaving the rest fragmented.

"Instead, it's the 'grey space' in between - the queues, the walk to the fan zone and the journey home - that gets overlooked. That's exactly where the opportunity sits, and personalisation is where it starts.

"Digital platforms should be part of that same experience. An app cannot compensate for a fragmented physical journey, and good transport infrastructure means little if the information fans receive is confusing or disconnected. The two need to be designed together.

"Two fans might look identical on paper - same age, same demographic - but their interests and personalities can differ massively. Design one generic experience based on generic assumptions for both, and it won't work well for either.

"Understanding the individual fan, rather than predicting them through broad assumptions, is what actually improves the experience. Organisations that get this right will earn the kind of lasting fan loyalty that no stadium, however impressive, ever could."

The emphasis on personalisation reflects a wider trend in sports and entertainment, where organisers are under pressure to tailor services to different needs without overcomplicating access. For international tournaments, that can mean better language support, clearer wayfinding, travel updates, accessibility information, and services that recognise different types of visitors, from families and disabled supporters to first-time international travellers.

It also has commercial implications. The World Cup attracts not only governing bodies and host nations but also sponsors, hospitality operators, travel groups and digital service providers, all seeking a role in the fan economy around the event.

Brand role

Merritt said brands should focus less on visibility at venues and more on whether they can solve real problems for supporters during the wider journey.

"For brands, this isn't about putting another activation outside a stadium. They should instead think more broadly about where they can add something useful to the fan journey.

"That opportunity may come weeks before the match, elsewhere in the host city, or through a digital service that makes the experience easier to navigate. The brands that make a meaningful contribution will be those that understand where they have a credible role to play, rather than simply trying to be visible at the biggest moment."