With the FIFA World Cup taking place later this year and the Republic of Ireland still in with a chance of qualifying, it’s going to be a busy year for advertisers and their brands, particularly when it comes to OOH advertising, writes Caroline Decourcy.
There’s something about a World Cup year that shifts the mood long before a ball is kicked. You can feel it creeping in – small comments in the kitchen at work, a revived WhatsApp group, someone asking “who’s got the biggest TV”. And with Ireland still in the play-offs, that early background noise has an extra edge to it.
And this is exactly why, when we ran our latest research into Irish World Cup behaviour, we weren’t surprised to find that the real action doesn’t sit neatly within the 90 minutes. Far from it. In fact, you could argue that what happens around match days is where the real story is, and where brands need to play closer attention.
Who We’re Really Talking To
Using our PULSE_ Brand Tracker – Talon’s bespoke OOH measurement platform, we partnered with Opinions to interview 501 recent OOH recallers and found that over half (53%) plan on watching the FIFA World Cup 2026. But it’s what sits behind that headline that tells the real story.
Fans aren’t gravitating to one predictable viewing spot. Instead, they’re marking the occasion (s) as an opportunity to socialise in pubs (42%), at friends’ houses (28%) or opening their doors to host (25%). It’s a mix of settings, routines, and social setups that give us a much richer picture of how the tournament will be experienced. And through all of these variations, one thing stays consistent: audiences are on the move.
When you look at their travel patterns, this becomes even clearer. Over half (51%) say they’ll stay in their local area to watch games, while 36% will travel within the same town/city if necessary, and 8% going so far as saying they will travel to another town/city. Not only that, but these audiences are predominantly choosing public travel to get around with 53% choosing the bus, 28% using taxis, 25% jumping on the LUAS and a further 21% taking the DART.
People are coming together, splitting up, re-grouping and creating spikes of activity across local towns and cities.
The Pre-Match Rituals
But one of the clearest patterns in the data sits in everything that happens before the whistle. Fans are showing up well before kick-off, and the build-up is where some of the most consistent behaviours live. With 52% buying snacks or alcohol, 40% ordering takeaway, 30% socialising before matches, 30% placing bets, and 25% stopping at shops, that’s a surprising amount of activity happening long before anyone sits down to watch.
And these rituals aren’t just habits; they directly translate into spend. Among those planning to watch, 53% say they’ll spend more on snacks, 52% on beers, 45% on takeaways, 42% on crisps, and a quarter plan to spend more on wine (25%) and spirits (23%). Only 10% say they won’t spend more at all.
And then there’s the mid-week shift.
Almost half (49%) say their social habits will change during the tournament, with 40% planning to socialise more mid-week than usual. Opening up entirely new windows where fans are out, about, and more open to influence.
As Ireland leans into the possibility of a World Cup summer, our research makes one thing clear: regardless of the results fans will be moving, gathering, stocking up, spending, re-routing their days and reshaping their weeks around the tournament.
Not just in the 90 minutes themselves, but in everything that surrounds them. Taken together, these behaviours turn the World Cup into a full summer season lived outside of the home.
