In the buildup to the 2026 World Cup, a number of NFL stadiums have been coping with a peculiar headache: multi-hundred-foot rooftop logos that, by FIFA mandate, must not be seen through the match.
Soccer’s international governing physique requires all World Cup venues to scrub themselves of pre-existing branding. It does this, it says, to “protect its brands and the exclusive rights of its sponsors.”
And it has prolonged the requirement to skyward-facing logos or lettering on stadium roofs, the sort that’s solely seen from airplanes or overhead digicam angles.
So, for months, stadium operators have been in talks with FIFA and third events looking out for options. With fewer than 100 days till kickoff, a number of the 11 NFL venues set to host World Cup video games nonetheless don’t know precisely how they’ll cowl or conceal the rooftop branding, in line with a number of individuals briefed on their plans.
And one, Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium, got here to an uncomfortable conclusion this winter: it couldn’t work out a option to cowl the large Mercedes-Benz star on its eight-piece retractable roof with out risking important harm.
So, after roughly 18 months of discussions, FIFA agreed to let the stadium depart its roof as is, in line with a number of individuals briefed on the scenario.
FIFA, in a press release from a spokesperson, mentioned it will “not comment on specific arrangements relating to individual stadiums.”
In basic, although, it mentioned: “FIFA is working closely with stadium authorities and host cities to implement (brand protection) requirements in a manner consistent with previous editions of the tournament, while taking into account the unique infrastructure and operational considerations at each venue.”
U.S. stadiums are usually extra commercialized than sporting arenas elsewhere world wide. And to a level, they’re accustomed to “de-branding” for particular occasions, equivalent to College Football Playoff video games. When exterior entities hire NFL stadiums, some sponsor logos and shows are turned over to the renter for momentary, event-specific branding, particularly contained in the constructing.
But the stadiums hardly ever, if ever, need to ditch their sponsored names, like they’ll this summer time. Mercedes-Benz Stadium shall be “Atlanta Stadium.” MetLife Stadium shall be “New York New Jersey Stadium.” Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., shall be “San Francisco Bay Area Stadium,” in line with FIFA.
And they hardly ever, if ever, have been compelled to hide branding on their roofs.
The Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta throughout final summer time’s Club World Cup. (Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images)
They didn’t need to finally summer time’s Club World Cup, when stadium use was ruled by normal rental agreements. But for the worldwide World Cup, every stadium signed a near-100-page contract with FIFA late final decade.
In clause 6.4.ii of these contracts, just a few of which have been obtained through public data requests, the stadiums agreed to “the requirement that there shall be no advertising, marketing, promotion, merchandising, licensing, signage or other commercial identification of any kind on any stands, scoreboards, seats, seatbacks, time clocks, staff uniforms, Accreditation passes, fences or elsewhere inside, surrounding, or in the airspace above and around the Stadium other than that which is installed by, or at the direction of, FIFA or which is approved in writing by FIFA.”
That was the problem Mercedes-Benz Stadium officers confronted years in the past. Adam Fullerton, the stadium’s vice-president of operations, mentioned in early 2025 that he was assured in his staff’s potential to cowl all indoor signage, and in its in depth plan to put in a grass pitch rather than synthetic turf; however the roof, he mentioned, was “what is keeping me up at night.”
“And it’s not just on the roof,” he mentioned of the Mercedes logos, which characterize a transparent battle with FIFA’s “official mobility partners,” Hyundai and Kia. “It’s on all the facades of the stadium, too. And they’re not small. They’re large. By design.”
FIFA, he acknowledged, had the “clean-site principle in the contract,” however then he added with a smile: “There’s been a healthy debate on exactly what ‘clean site’ means.”
He mentioned that he and the stadium have been “trying to come up with a good idea for how to actually mask those (logos) but still leave the building looking presentable and fun.
“So, I’ve really pushed back on FIFA and said, ‘OK, help us. What are you gonna brand our venue as? Help us come up with a branding package.’”
SoFi Stadium exterior Los Angeles will host the USMNT’s first 2026 World Cup match. (Patrick T. Fallon / AFP / Getty Images)
Similar processes have been ongoing at different World Cup stadiums. SoFi Stadium’s SVP of services, Otto Benedict, mentioned on the time that he and his staff have been “documenting and identifying” all signage that might should be handled. “That goes back to FIFA,” he mentioned. “And then we’ll wait for their confirmation on the things that they want to see. And then we’ll go put together a plan.”
Despite the SoFi branding on the stadium’s roof, Benedict didn’t sound too involved. But “in talking to my counterparts (at other stadiums),” he famous, “they’re a little overwhelmed in what they have to do.”
Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium, Seattle’s Lumen Field, Dallas’ AT&T Stadium, Houston’s NRG Stadium and Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field even have skyward-facing branding.
The Hard Rock logos in Miami and the “LUMEN FIELD” lettering in Seattle — which stretches roughly the size of a soccer discipline — are on both aspect of partial roofs.
The “nrg stadium” branding in Houston is on the “eyelids” of a retractable roof, that means it’s at all times seen from above.
The “Lincoln Financial Field” branding in Philadelphia is subsequent to photo voltaic panels on skinny lips that cowl the uppermost seats within the prime deck.
In Arlington, Texas, on the house of the Dallas Cowboys, there are two giant AT&T logos on both finish of a retractable roof and “AT&T STADIUM” plastered on either side.
Spokespeople and others conversant in the planning at a number of stadiums instructed The Athletic this month that they do need to cowl the rooftop branding. But they might not say how, precisely, that might be carried out.
Seattle’s Lumen Field has branding on either side of its roof. (Steph Chambers / Getty Images)
Lumen Field’s basic supervisor, Zach Hensley, told the Puget Sound Business Journal in November that determining an answer for the roof was the toughest a part of the de-branding course of, and can be carried out professionally moderately than with one thing like a tarp.
It was most troublesome, although, in Atlanta, which is scheduled to host eight video games, together with a semifinal.
The rooftop star at Mercedes-Benz Stadium is patterned onto eight interlocking and movable panels, every weighing 500 tons and stretching 220 toes lengthy. The “petals,” as they’re recognized, near kind a multi-acre roof “inspired by the oculus in the ancient Roman Pantheon.”
The panels are part-ETFE, a “malleable plastic material that’s inflated with air,” Fullerton defined in January. “So, those pillows present a bit of a challenge. … We’ve gotta go up on those pillows and actually cover up the emblem and make that disappear.”
At the time, he indicated that the “leading plan” was a “vinyl graphic, and a pretty interesting lay-down method” to cowl the symbol. But stadium representatives cautioned that the plan wasn’t finalized.
‘We’ve had loads of lengthy conversations with our producers and installers of the roof system,” Fullerton mentioned, “… and (with) our signage vendor that we’ve engaged to help us with a lot of this work.”
Less than two months later, these conversations led to the settlement with FIFA that the symbol received’t need to be lined after all.
FIFA, when requested why, didn’t clarify. Mercedes-Benz Stadium spokespeople additionally declined to remark. But a number of sources instructed The Athletic that the first purpose for the exception was the danger of injury to the roof, which may price hundreds of thousands of {dollars} to restore.
One additionally identified that the Mercedes brand — not like these on different stadium roofs — will not be seen when the roof is open.
For the World Cup, although, like for NFL and MLS video games, stadiums with retractable roofs have been planning to maintain them closed for the length of the match, permitting them to take care of a climate-controlled surroundings for followers, gamers and grass. Fullerton confirmed in January that this was Mercedes-Benz Stadium’s plan. “We do not intend on opening the roof,” he mentioned. It’s unclear if FIFA would take into account altering that plan for branding causes.
Earlier within the talks with a number of stadiums, digital options have been additionally mentioned. The pondering was that broadcast manufacturing groups may use expertise, equivalent to computer-generated imagery, to scrub logos just about for viewers world wide. A FIFA spokesperson told Sports Business Journal final summer time that the expertise wasn’t superior sufficient to ensure full protection in aerial pictures of stadiums, but it surely presumably stays an possibility.
Broadcasters is also compelled to keep away from aerial pictures of Mercedes-Benz Stadium. It’s unclear what the eventual answer shall be.
