What Does It Take to Run a World Cup Host City? | Brandy Thigpen

It was so, I mean, I feel like the unity was great.

And Brandy, I know we were texting during it and I was like, don't text back.

I'm just thinking about you.

But like I did, I was thinking about you because I was like, on one hand, you have to be so proud But on the other hand, you have to just be so worried and stressed out about it the whole time.

So for people that are, you know, obviously Olympics are coming to the United States in 2028.

So for people going back into this and even on a micro level, like I think of some of my friends who do like first responder Olympics or they do youth sports or things like that, like for anybody going into this type of event, what are two and there's so much that you can't predict too like what are like two or three pieces of advice you might give somebody entering into the unknown like this for the first time

um first the relationships matter and i think that was one thing that set me up for success here because i had great relationships with the host committee i have great relationships with our industry partners where i did not have the relationships were with the local government local federal or state government so working with the governor's office i didn't have that experience um before i came into fifa yeah we we hosted fifa club world cup last summer but it wasn't on the same of the same magnitude right so building on those relationships with the governor's office with the white house task force when i came into this um you know a lot of times when events like this come into a city They come in, they produce the event, they leave.

They're focused on their success of that event.

As the host city director, this is my home.

So when FIFA World Cup 2026 was going to pack up and leave L.A. and move on, to 2030 planning, I was still going to be in Los Angeles.

This was still going to be my home.

I'm still gonna be looking for a job.

I still have a reputation to uphold here in this city.

So I went into the relationship building with those partners, with laying the foundation that way.

I am your true partner.

I'm not just committed to the success of FIFA World Cup.

I'm committed to the success of Los Angeles and the FIFA World Cup.

So I think just those relationships and laying that foundation that I am your true partner and we're in this literally together was a big, I think that really helped me be successful here.

Another thing is just our staff.

You know, everybody was, I think I can speak for just about everyone when they say we're a little scared leading up because we did not know what to expect and we didn't have that roadmap.

So I went into this.

I had never actually led a team of this size before.

So I went into this project with the approach that my team are, you know, they're humans.

They were humans before they were FIFA World Cup employees.

You know, we have never, most of these people had never worked at this capacity in their life.