The festivalization of football
For decades, football seemed immune to the experience-economy logic already reshaping live music — Coachella, the Eras Tour, Live Nation. The 2026 World Cup — 104 matches, dynamic pricing, its own resale marketplace, commemorative rings, pitch grass sold as collectibles — proves otherwise. FIFA no longer sells football matches. It sells an entire ecosystem. The question left open: are ninety unpredictable minutes still enough to justify everything built around them?
Sold out isn’t enough anymore
Thirty Spanish festivals folded this year while others sold out twice over, proof that the market isn’t shrinking, it’s splitting. The festivals that survive own their demand, through brand or community, while the ones that don’t are forced to rent it, year after year, at a price someone else sets.