You can reference the FIFA World Cup. You can tell customers you are open during the tournament, that the matches are on, and that you are excited the event is in town, because those are truthful, generic statements about something happening in the world. What you cannot do is use FIFA's marks, official emblem, trophy, slogans, or trademarked hashtags, or arrange your promotion so a customer would reasonably think FIFA sponsors or endorses you.
That single distinction, between a truthful reference and an implied sponsorship, is the whole question most host-city businesses are actually asking right now. With the 2026 tournament live across U.S., Canadian, and Mexican cities, the worry is real: a cease-and-desist letter, or a locked social account, can land on a small business that thought it was just having fun with a hashtag.
The short version: truthful generic references are generally lower-risk; using FIFA's protected marks or implying official sponsorship is the risk. The rest of this article shows what FIFA actually owns, where U.S. law draws the line, and what to do if a demand letter or platform takedown shows up. This is general risk education for businesses, not advice about your specific promotion.
What FIFA actually owns, and what it doesn't
FIFA runs one of the most aggressive brand-protection programs in sport, and that program is built on real trademark rights. According to FIFA's Brand Protection materials and its official IP Guidelines, FIFA treats the official emblem, the FIFA WORLD CUP wordmarks, the official slogan, the trophy, host-city marks, and a list of related word marks as protected. The Guidelines also say two things businesses tend to miss: the list is not exhaustive, and the document does not decide whether any particular activity infringes.
Here is the part the headlines get wrong. FIFA does not own the everyday words "World Cup" for every purpose. FIFA holds a live U.S. registration for the standalone words WORLD CUP covering a broad range of goods and services, apparel such as shirts, T-shirts, caps, and hats; bags such as sport bags, backpacks, and tote bags; jewelry; sport balls; soft drinks and beer; credit-card services; and television broadcasting among them, each registered in connection with soccer competitions held under the WORLD CUP name. Several classes, such as cosmetics and certain foods and services, have since lapsed under Section 8. That lets FIFA stop uses likely to confuse consumers about source, sponsorship, or affiliation across those and related areas. It is not ownership of the everyday words for every use, and whether any particular use is an infringement or a permissible reference depends on the facts.
The newer mark tells the same story. FIFA's WORLD CUP 2026 application covers advertising, event organization, and hospitality, but it is still under examination at the USPTO. It is an application, not a registration. So the accurate picture is not "FIFA owns World Cup." It is "FIFA owns a live, broad WORLD CUP registration tied to soccer competitions held under that name, and the 2026 mark is still pending." That is a narrower, and more useful, starting point than the myth.
What U.S. law lets your business say about the World Cup
U.S. trademark law, not FIFA's guidelines, sets the legal floor, and that floor leaves room for truthful references. The doctrine is called nominative fair use, and it comes from cases like New Kids on the Block v. News America Publishing. Its premise is straightforward: sometimes you have to name a thing to talk about it truthfully.
Nominative fair use generally protects a reference when three conditions hold. First, the event is not readily identifiable without using the name, because there is no other way to say "the World Cup." Second, you use no more of the mark than you need, so the plain words, not the emblem or the stylized logo. Third, nothing about your use suggests that FIFA sponsors or endorses you. That third condition is where most disputes live.
In plain terms, a sign that says "Watch every match here" or a post that says "We're open all tournament long" is a truthful statement about an event. A storefront wrapped in FIFA's emblem, a giveaway branded with the official slogan, or a promotion that reads as if you are an official sponsor is a different thing. The words can be safe; the marks and the implied affiliation are the risk.
The line businesses cross: implied sponsorship
The legal hook FIFA actually reaches for is implied sponsorship. Under Section 43(a) of the Lanham Act, it is a problem to use a word, symbol, or representation that is likely to confuse customers about whether your business is affiliated with, connected to, sponsored by, or approved by FIFA. For famous marks, FIFA can also reach for dilution under Section 43(c), which does not even require proving confusion.
So the test is not "did you say the words World Cup." It is "would a reasonable customer think FIFA is behind this." A bar that advertises the matches is informing customers. A bar that builds its whole promotion around FIFA's emblem and slogans, sells event-branded merchandise, or runs a "World Cup giveaway" is edging toward a message of official association it did not buy.
This is also why no one can tell you, in the abstract, that your specific promotion is safe or unsafe. Likelihood of confusion is fact-specific. The honest answer is a framework, not a verdict: keep references truthful and generic, keep FIFA's protected marks out of your commercial materials, and do not let your promotion imply a sponsorship you do not have.
Why FIFA enforces hard without a special U.S. law
Businesses often assume there must be a special "World Cup law" that makes all of this illegal. In the United States, there is not. There is no standalone federal anti-ambush-marketing statute. Some prior host countries passed bespoke event-protection laws; the United States, Canada, and Mexico did not enact one for 2026.
FIFA's leverage comes from somewhere else, and it is worth understanding because it is faster and broader than a lawsuit. First, ordinary trademark and unfair-competition law, the Section 43(a) and Section 43(c) hooks above. Second, contract: ticket terms, venue agreements, and host-city arrangements bind the people who sign them. Third, platform takedowns, where FIFA reports a post or account and the platform acts on its own terms of service, often within days. Fourth, local Clean Zone ordinances, covered next.
That combination is why FIFA can act like it has a special statute even though it does not. A small business rarely experiences "no federal anti-ambush law" as good news, because the practical pressure, a locked account or a demand letter, arrives long before any court would. FIFA's program is an extreme version of what every serious trademark and brand-protection owner does: monitor, report, and escalate.
The host-city layer: Clean Zones
There is a local layer on top of the federal one. Clean Zones, sometimes called Event Zones, are temporary, city-specific commercial-use rules near event venues. A Clean Zone can restrict signage, street vending, temporary structures, and promotions within a defined area and time window, and it commonly prohibits the sale of counterfeit or infringing event-marked merchandise. These rules are created by local ordinance, city by city, not by FIFA, and they are a real consideration for a business near a venue.
Take the Los Angeles area, where matches are played at SoFi Stadium in the City of Inglewood. The City of Inglewood adopted Ordinance No. 26-04, designating an Event Zone for the 2026 FIFA World Cup that is in effect from June 12 to July 10, 2026. Within that zone, the city restricts outdoor commercial advertising and signage, temporary signs, street vending and peddling, temporary structures, and the sale of counterfeit or infringing FIFA-marked merchandise, except as the city authorizes. This is adopted law, not a proposal.
Miami-area matches are played at Hard Rock Stadium in the City of Miami Gardens, which has a standing clean-zone ordinance in its municipal code. During a clean-zone period around a stadium event, that code prohibits street vending, commercial banners and inflatables, off-site and mobile advertising, temporary structures, canvassing and free-sample distribution, ticket sales on public property, and the sale or distribution of counterfeit or infringing trademarked merchandise. Some host cities have additional event-zone rules of their own. The point is that this is a patchwork, not a single national rule, so if your business sits in a host city, the practical step is to check your own city's ordinance directly, because what one city enacts says nothing about another.
A do/don't checklist before you post or print
This is general risk guidance, not a verdict on any specific campaign. With that boundary, here is the practical shape.
You can generally:
- State facts about the event: "we're open during the World Cup," "watch the match here," "the tournament is in town."
- Use the plain, generic words truthfully, without FIFA's emblem, trophy, or stylized logos.
- Promote your own goods and services on their own merits, without leaning on FIFA's marks.
You should avoid:
- Using the official emblem, the trophy, the official slogan, the FIFA WORLD CUP logos, or trademarked hashtags in ads, merchandise, or promotions.
- Running "World Cup" sweepstakes, giveaways, or contests that read as official.
- Selling event-branded merchandise.
- Arranging anything so a customer would think you are an official FIFA sponsor or partner.
One jurisdiction note. This article addresses U.S. trademark law. The tournament is also hosted in Canadian and Mexican cities, where different national laws apply. If your business is in a Canadian or Mexican host city, the do/don't shape above is a starting frame, but you should get advice from counsel in your own country before relying on it.
If FIFA, or a platform, comes after you
Pressure usually arrives in one of two forms. A platform locks or restricts your account after a report, or a demand letter shows up. Neither is a court ruling, and neither should be ignored.
If a demand letter arrives, do not respond reflexively and do not assume the sender's position is the last word. Preserve the letter and your promotional records, get your actual risk assessed, and respond strategically. Options can range from adjusting the promotion to a negotiated resolution. StarGuard Law handles this through trademark enforcement and cease-and-desist work and cease-and-desist response and defense.
If a platform locks your account, that is its own process. The Fort Worth brewery whose account was locked for about 30 days, as the Fort Worth Report described, is the version of this risk that hits a small business hardest, because the account is the storefront. Reinstating a restricted business account is a defined path, and StarGuard Law works on platform account reinstatement and appeals.
The best moment to get a read is before you launch, not after the letter lands. If you are a host-city small business planning a World Cup promotion, a short trademark-strategy conversation prices your risk while you can still adjust the campaign cheaply. If instead you are protecting your own brand rather than referencing FIFA's, the guide How to Trademark Your Brand covers search, filing, and clearance. For a related look at what happens when two marks collide, see When a Rebrand Becomes a Trademark Lawsuit.
You can talk about the World Cup. Keep it truthful, keep FIFA's marks out of your promotions, and get a read before you build the campaign. That's the bottom line.
This article is for general information only — not legal advice.
