what’ s working
Leo Flor, chief legacy officer for Seattle’ s World Cup Organizing Committee, speaks at a press conference in January announcing nine fan zone locations across the state.
Local organizations are working to prepare businesses to make the most of the World Cup.
“ It’ s an opportunity for smaller businesses across Washington state to become household names for soccer fans everywhere by really contributing to them having an experience of a lifetime,” Smith said.
Nine Washington cities across the state will host official fan zones – a key part of making the World Cup a statewide event.
“ These are places where people can congregate, watch games on big screens, and enjoy food and beverages,” said Leo Flor, chief legacy officer for Seattle FWC26, the local organizing committee for the World Cup.“ Each fan zone will have its own unique character based on the hosting community.”
Just across the Canadian border, Vancouver, B. C. will host seven World Cup matches— with Seattle and Vancouver the second closet set of host cities. Planning committees are working closely to coordinate aspects of the event— with the goal to highlight the Cascadia economic region that extends from Vancouver, B. C. to Portland.
The Seattle committee is working to build an augmented reality game, similar to Pokémon Go, that will spotlight local sites and offer
“ We hope that it becomes a formative and common memory for the whole region, in a way that really reinforces that this is a big state, but we have a lot in common.”
— Leo Flor, chief legacy officer of Seattle FWC26, the local organizing committee for the World Cup prizes. The idea is that fans traveling to and from matches will make pitstops in Yakima or Bellingham, for example, to play the game, Flor said.
“ Our responsibility is to take the opportunity that comes with hosting the largest sporting event in the world and then to broaden that benefit so that more communities, more businesses and more parts of the state get to experience it,” Flor said.
Potential team base camps may bring an additional boost to two Washington cities. FIFA has named Gonzaga University in Spokane and the Seattle Sounders training center in Renton as candidates for international team base camps— which would be used by a national team such as Spain or Japan to train before and during the tournament. Flor said the teams would bring their entourage of staff, fans and media to the base camp cities in the weeks leading up to the World Cup.
In January, Seattle’ s World Cup committee launched the World Cup Small Business Initiative, which has three main parts.
The Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce is building a Small Business Playbook, which will include tips and best practices for businesses during large-scale events, that it expects to release later this year.
24 association of washington business