How a free charm bracelet conquered the World Cup

Karina Guerra did not mind waiting an hour to get her sought-after World Cup souvenir this week in East Rutherford, New Jersey - after all, she didn't pay a dime for it.

While the 2010 World Cup had vuvuzelas and the 2018 edition the foam Kokoshnik (traditional Russian headdress), the must-have accessory for the 2026 tournament appears to be "fan bands," free charm wristlets that have turned traditional marketing on its head.

More than 700,000 have been snapped up so far at the tournament, with fans reserving appointments to make the customisable bracelets at fan festivals and scooping up premade versions distributed by sponsor Bank of America outside stadiums on match days.

"Last time we waited for two hours," said Guerra, a fan from El Salvador who said she had collected four of the bracelets so far, snubbing the kiosks of pricey merchandise that awaited her just beyond the gates at New York New Jersey Stadium.

"It's spectacular. It is something very original."

Fans select charms specific to host cities - New York's collection includes a slice of pizza and the Statue of Liberty - with a new collection of charms for the Round of 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals and the final announced this week.

What fans won't see, however, is branding that has become ubiquitous in sports marketing. Bank of America may be the sponsor, but their name isn't on the bands, with their logo sneaking into the giveaway. To some fans, the logo which, which is reminiscent of an American flag, simply looks like a patriotic part of the design representing one of the host countries. 

The stadiums themselves have been denuded of their own prior corporate branding in favour of geographic names - MetLife Stadium, for one, became "New York New Jersey Stadium" - as brands must shell out even to be associated with the world's largest sporting event. Bank of America paid a reported $100 million for its sponsorship deal with FIFA.

"There's just an inundation of brands all over the place," said Lauren Anderson, director of the Warsaw Sports Business Center at the University of Oregon.

"Society is kind of trying to turn a little bit away from all the like trinkets and trash and junk. And if it's something you're going to keep, you maybe don't want a brand slapped all over it."

While many corporate freebies often seem destined for the rubbish bin, fans at matches in Atlanta and East Rutherford, New Jersey, lined up for over an hour this week for the bracelets they said would stay a treasured memento.

Noah Sigal was at New York New Jersey Stadium when the gates opened and waited an hour-and-a-half in line to collect a fan band on Tuesday, where France beat Sweden in the Round of 32. He has no intention of selling.

"This is all like a once-in-a-lifetime item. You're never going to get it anywhere else," he said. "I'm going to keep this forever."

Camera: Kurt Michael Hall, Vitalii Yalahuzian, Production: Kurt Michael Hall, Writing: Amy Tennery, Kurt Michael Hall, Editing: Kurt Michael Hall, Vitalii Yalahuzian/Reuters