What the FIFA World Cup teaches every communicator about reputation, trust and the moments that define a place

For several extraordinary weeks, Seattle became one of the world’s gathering places. Visitors filled the streets. International media arrived with cameras rolling. Local businesses welcomed new customers, neighborhoods shared their stories and soccer supporters gave the city an energy that could not be manufactured. Millions encountered Seattle through broadcasts, photographs, social media and the stories people carried home.

But Seattle’s World Cup story was never just about soccer. It was a once-in-a-generation test of reputation: What happens when the world arrives with expectations and every experience can become a headline?

I sat down with Abbie S. Fink and Peter Tomozawa, CEO of SeattleFWC26, on the PRGN Presents podcast to examine the strategy behind that moment: how a region aligns hundreds of partners, earns community trust, prepares for risk and turns a few weeks of attention into something that can last for years.

This was also a conversation grounded in shared experience. Peter hired my agency Fearey to lead communications and marketing support for the World Cup as part of the local organizing effort. We did not work at arm’s length. We operated as an extension of the SeattleFWC26 team, helping translate an enormous, fast-moving undertaking into stories that local communities, partners and global audiences could understand and embrace.

Working side by side reinforced a lesson that applies to every high-stakes assignment: reputation is built long before the spotlight arrives.

The strongest stories come from real people. And communications must help shape the experience, not simply promote it afterward.

Seattle’s World Cup story was about how a region presented itself when the world arrived at its door, and whether it could translate attention into pride, participation and progress.

For public relations professionals, the takeaway is clear: when the world is watching, our job is not simply to attract attention. It is to help our organizations deserve it.

The places and companies that make the most of a defining moment understand who they are, involve the people affected by their decisions and connect their public story to visible action. The matches may be over, but that work continues.

Peter shared some powerful insights that are applicable whether you’re planning a global event or a neighborhood open house:

1. Your reputation is the experience—not the campaign

Thousands of small interactions create the narrative and any one of them can be posted and distributed around the world in seconds.

Your reputation is demonstrated through the experience it delivers.

Communications therefore belongs inside operational planning and the promise and the reality have to match.

The same principle applies to any defining business moment: an acquisition, leadership transition, international expansion, product launch or crisis. Communications leaders should be in the room early enough to identify gaps, influence decisions and prepare people, and not called after the fact to make the outcome sound compelling.

2. A memorable story needs a larger purpose

Peter said the goal was not simply to bring the World Cup to Washington, but to bring Washington to the world.

That distinction is the difference between an event description and a narrative platform. One tells people what is happening. The other gives businesses, artists, civic organizations, neighborhoods and residents a reason to participate, even if they never enter the stadium.

For communicators, the lesson is simple: positioning cannot be a slogan placed on top of a plan. The best narrative becomes a decision-making tool. It helps leaders choose partnerships, allocate resources and decide whose stories deserve the microphone.

3. One story does not require one voice

Delivering a World Cup requires coordination among organizations that do not share a single hierarchy.  

That makes coalition management one of the least visible, and most important, communications disciplines. Before partners can speak clearly to the public, they need a shared understanding of the goals, roles, risks and language. That work requires listening for disagreement, anticipating how decisions land differently across communities and creating fast, reliable ways to exchange information.

It also requires humility. No organization owns the whole story. Some of the most credible voices were not executives. They were residents, volunteers, artists, small-business owners and community leaders explaining what the moment meant to them.

That belief shaped Fearey’s role with SeattleFWC26, the local organizing committee in Seattle for the World Cup. Acting as an extension of the local team meant staying close enough to the work to recognize emerging stories, understand stakeholder concerns and connect individual moments to the larger promise of bringing the Puget Sound region to the world. The most effective agency partnership is not an outside layer added at the end. It is a trusted team operating alongside the people responsible for delivering the experience.

4. Local credibility comes before global visibility

A global spotlight encourages everyone to think big: worldwide audiences, iconic imagery and international coverage. But a global story only works when people at home recognize themselves in it.

Community engagement cannot be a late-stage campaign designed to validate decisions already made. It must influence the work. That means asking who is absent, who carries the burden, how benefits can be shared and whether the chosen messenger is trusted.

For PRGN agencies and clients working across markets, the lesson travels well: a globally consistent strategy still requires locally credible execution. Translation is not the same as understanding. The channel, messenger and cultural context can matter as much as the words.

5. The crisis plan is a relationship map

A global sporting event is emotional, decentralized and fast. That creates extraordinary storytelling opportunities and significant risk. An operational disruption can become a reputation issue in minutes. Misinformation can move faster than a correction. A comment intended for one audience can take on an entirely different meaning in another country.

Preparedness requires more than a crisis manual. Teams need decision rights, current contacts, practiced escalation procedures, monitoring systems and the ability to verify facts quickly. Most of all, partners need established relationships before a difficult moment occurs.

A crisis is the wrong time to exchange introductions. Organizations that communicate consistently during normal operations are better positioned under pressure. People know whom to call, leaders understand how decisions will be made and spokespeople already trust one another.

Preparedness and storytelling are not separate disciplines. Both depend on clarity, coordination and credibility.

6. Attention is temporary. Legacy is cumulative.

Legacy cannot be a retrospective list of accomplishments assembled after the cameras leave. It must be defined during planning, connected to commitments and supported by work that continues beyond the event.

For Peter, his mission was clear: Seattle’s hosting legacy would be youth access to soccer, cultural visibility, community investment, accessibility, small-business support and stronger civic partnerships. 

Fearey’s guiding principles throughout the entire engagement can be summarized in seven lessons: 

1. Start before it feels urgent. Reputation strategy should shape the work, not merely describe it.

2. Find the idea bigger than the event. Give partners a purpose they can make their own.

3. Earn trust locally first. Global visibility cannot compensate for weak community credibility.

4. Treat operations as communications. Every interaction contributes to the story people repeat.

5. Let others carry the narrative. The most credible storyteller may not have an executive title.

6. Prepare through relationships. Coordination under pressure is built during quieter moments.

7. Define what should remain. A moment matters most when it contributes to something beyond itself.

If you want to hear more about the lessons learnt from the Seattle World Cup 2026 campaign and the work behind it, listen to the latest episode of the PRGN Presents podcast series.