FIFA World Cup 2026 Miami Executive Committee Co-Chair Rodney Barreto is overseeing preparations for Fan Fest, a $15 million World Cup viewing party scheduled for downtown Miami in June and July.
SAM NAVARRO
Special for the Miami Herald
The $15 million budget for World Cup’s three-week watch party on the Miami waterfront includes televisions the size of houses, temporary fields for youth games and Biscayne Bay turned into a salt-water soccer pitch, with the players riding personal watercraft and aqua jet packs.
Those details behind Fan Fest are revealed in a partially redacted 322-page report submitted to Miami-Dade County, which is funding most of the event at Miami’s Bayfront Park.
The Miami Herald obtained the document through a records request. It offers the most detailed look yet at the tax-funded viewing party and festival that’s set to overlap with five of the seven matches the FIFA World Cup is bringing to Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens between June 15 and July 18. FanFest will run seven days a week between June 13 and July 5.
Rodney Barreto, the volunteer co-chair of the local Host Committee, said it was too daunting and pricey to keep Fan Fest going during the 15 days after Hard Rock’s July 5 match, when only one match is scheduled each week. During that time, the Host Committee will organize public watch parties throughout the county.
Tickets for the Colombia versus Portugal Hard Rock match on June 27 are selling for more than $1,000 in the upper deck on the resale site Stub Hub. But the Fan Fest event will be open to the public and free. Organizers expect an average of nearly 40,000 visitors daily for the three-week Fan Fest — 840,000 in all, according to information in the Host Committee’s insurance policy that was included in the report.
Fan Fest is the main World Cup cost for Miami-Dade taxpayers beyond the $25 million being donated to FIFA in overtime for county police, paramedics and other public safety requirements for the global soccer tournament that’s being played in 16 cities in North America this summer. Miami-Dade agreed to a $46 million subsidy package for World Cup, including the free public-safety services.
What’s being planned for Fan Fest? Some details gleaned from the documents and an interview with Barreto include:
A main stage in the Bayfront Park amphitheater with television screens more than two stories tall for showing World Cup matches across North America — more than 80 games are expected to be airing at Fan Fest. When games aren’t on, entertainment will take the stage — DJs for music and cultural shows themed to a country or countries playing in that day’s matches. “Soccer on the Bay” watershows with players on personal watercraft and water-powered jet packs trying to score goals with a jumbo inflatable soccer ball. “We’re going to bring soccer to the waterfront,” Barreto said.Mini soccer pitches for youth soccer drills and play. Barreto said soccer coaches would be on hand to direct the activities. Firework and drones shows, with a $400,000 budget for the nighttime displays. About $700,000 for a VIP area for corporate sponsors tied to the event and World Cup. Sponsors — including Coca-Cola, Home Depot and Anheuser-Busch — will also have activities and giveaways in a public portion of Fan Fest.
The Host Committee has a $410,000 19-month contract through July with an events company to organize Fan Fest and manage the operations. The North Bay Village company, Logistics Management Group, is owned by Randi Freedman, who has worked on logistics for major events, including Fan Fests for Super Bowl and Formula 1 and the South Beach Wine and Food Festival.
The report included a Fan Fest budget of $15 million that was approved by the Host Committee in November, with an extra $1.3 million contingency to cover unexpected expenses. A separate part of the report lists Miami-Dade’s contribution to Fan Fest and viewing parties at $14.2 million.
Miami Herald staff writer Michelle Kaufman contributed to this report.