Painting Boxpark Green: How Midnite Owned the World Cup Fan Experience

The FIFA World Cup is the most popular sporting event in the world, with an estimated 5 million people tuning in globally to watch every four years. This years’ opening drew a global viewership  figure of 1.2 billion, completely dwarfing that of other popular sports events such as the Superbowl. The appetite for the World Cup seems to continue to grow, with the 2026 final being the most-watched final match in history, shattering previous broadcast and engagement records.

 

When the World Cup kicks off, it isn’t just a sporting event, it is a cultural phenomenon, and for brands, it is the ultimate way to tap into receptive audiences where they live and play. People don’t just watch the World Cup passively, they watch it with passion, and when a brand creates an activation that aligns with this passion, the positive emotion of the game is associated with them. 

 

Amongst many other spending categories, gambling during the tournament undergoes a massive transformational spike, with sportsbooks treating the event as the ultimate custom acquisition opportunity. With the 2026 tournament expanding from 32 to 48 teams, the volume of matches played increased, creating even more betting windows, and some major betting companies reported a massive 100 million bets placed before the final matches.

 

Midnite, the UK-based sports and esports betting platform, approaches major football tournaments very differently compared to traditional legacy bookmakers. Positioned as being ‘for the next generation’, and using both modern technologies and fan-centric features to appeal to younger audiences. With a data driven approach as well as a focus on community engagement and a strong commitment to responsible gambling, Midnite continues to grow and expand its influence across the market.

 

For its 2026 World Cup campaign, Midnite turned our BOXPARK network a sea of green, with unmissable 3D elements as well as snappy, memorable copy, demonstrating to the public why they should be choosing Midnite over others. What was the aim? To reach football fans in the most vibrant fan zones in the country when they are at the height of the World Cup excitement. High impact formats were key for Midnite to become unmissable and really provide a platform to announce themselves throughout the World Cup.

 

“The Boxpark campaign was an exciting campaign to work on with both Open Media and Midnite as it allowed the client to tap into a major sporting and cultural moment”- Oli Pointer, Senior Account Manager JAA Media

Known as the Home of The Fan, and with UK’s most recognisable fan parks, Midnite opted for a stunning full-takeover of our BOXPARK network, and working alongside JAA Media, the brand  dominated all sites, including our unmissable large format digital screens, external and internal banners, and D6’s internal screens, and the campaign was certainly hard to miss, giving them a true ‘fame’ moment throughout the tournament. Pair this with sold out viewing parties and merch for every attendee, and you have one of the most recognisable campaigns of the tournament. 

 

 

 “3% of new customers cited OOH / Boxpark during the World Cup”.- Midnite

Throughout the campaign we saw scenes of BOXPARK locations packed to the brim full of Midnite bucket hat-clad fans celebrating every goal scored. BOXPARK were also proud to announce its record week for revenue, as well as sell out events across the board, not just for England matches but for other countries also. OOH working in conjunction with fan engagement helped boost PR coverage across major news outlets such as BBC, Sky Sports, The Athletic, The Telegraph, with over 15.3 million people being reached across online coverage as well as those within the venues themselves. Midnite was hard to miss and truly became ‘the’ betting brand of the World Cup.

 

 

 

Midnite’s World Cup campaign also generated significant engagement across PR and social media platforms, with fan celebrations going viral and amplifying the campaign’s reach vastly beyond the BOXPARK venues they were held in. With a combination of premium LFD OOH and the biggest sporting event in the world, Midnite achieved their goal of connecting with vast audiences in a meaningful and memorable way. 

 

 “We were incredibly proud of the work from all parties involved as the campaign delivery has been testament to Open, Midnite and the planning team. Engagement and collaboration with hard work behind the scenes for many days prior and during the World Cup from everyone”.- JAA Media

 

The partnership between Midnite, JAA Media, and Open demonstrated the true power of OOH to drive brand visibility as well as cultural relevance with a BOXPARK takeover, and leveraging these cross-venue activations, brands can amplify their campaigns to create a +27%* uplift in brand recall versus single-site campaigns.

 

Source: BOXPARK, Inside FIFA, Yahoo Sports, Statista, Kantar, Outsmart, JAA Media, Midnite