The World Cup is just around the corner—is your city ready?
Whether your city is taking part as an officially designated World Cup fan zone or simply setting up a watch party in a public park, there are many resources available to help you plan your summer soccer celebrations.
An AWC webinar from December highlighted several new ways cities can host World Cup viewing events with special alcohol licenses from the Liquor and Cannabis Board (LCB). Under last year’s HB 1515, local jurisdictions, including cities, counties, and port authorities, have the temporarily increased capacity to authorize outdoor alcohol services with proper LCB licensing, with larger cities given more authority to enable alcohol sales in public spaces. You can read more about the expanded alcohol services on the LCB website.
Additionally, the Seattle Sports Commission and the Seattle FIFA World Cup 26 Local Organizing Committee have provided this helpful Watch Party Playbook. The playbook answers questions about how to:
- Host a public viewing event;
- Meet liquor licensing standards; and
- Advertise the showings of World Cup matches (and what you shouldn’t do).
See a slide from that playbook below, which highlights the nine city fan zones.
Seattle will host six World Cup matches on June 15, 19, 24, and 26, and July 1 and 6. But your city’s biggest soccer fanatics will likely be tuning in for the entire tournament from the June 11 kickoff through the July 19 final.
It’s highly likely your city will see more interest in public events if the U.S. Men’s National Team survives deep into the tournament, so plan ahead.
