On July 11, 2026. Culver City hosted its fifth World Cup watch party at Veterans Memorial Park featuring Norway vs. England, and Argentina vs. Switzerland. Attendance at the events has enthusiastic, ranging from 500 to 700 people.
As World Cup events draw millions of fans and 48 international teams across 16 host cities, this kind of parallel, more accessible viewing option has taken shape alongside the tournament’s high-cost experiences.
Tickets for high-demand matches have reached thousands of dollars; the England vs. Argentina match in Atlanta on July 15, has tickets ranging from $3,405 to $9,240. Meanwhile, official FIFA fan events range from $10 fan festivals to $36.55 fan zones.
These large-scale events can draw tens of thousands of attendees and often reach capacity before kickoff. FIFA’s Los Angeles Union Station fan event in June, for example, attracted about 25,000 visitors throughout the day, according to KTLA, with a stream of fans wrapping around the station.
In response, cities have created free alternatives. Culver City launched “Kick It With Culver City,” a series of six free World Cup screenings at locations including Tellefson Park, Ivy Station and Veterans Memorial Park. The events feature LED screens for match broadcasts, along with local food and beverage vendors.
The series was incorporated into Culver City’s broader “Parks Make Life Better!” Month programming, a statewide initiative recognized every July that encourages cities to activate public parks through community events. Culver City’s Office of Economic and Cultural Development partnered with the Parks, Recreation and Community Services Commission to bring the World Cup programming to local parks.
Ice cream truck Flavas By Ed and mobile pizza vendor Windsor Hills Pizza Company were among those serving attendees. Current city regulations limit vendors from setting up within 300 feet of parks and schools. As a result, many vendors only access park spaces through permitted city events like the World Cup watch parties.
That reliance on city-supported events has helped foster a network between organizers and vendors.
“Culver City is a big city, but it’s really not. We’ve partnered with our food vendors. We all know each other and we all put a lot of effort into hosting these events, because there was nothing really planned in Culver City other than the businesses or bars,” Recreation and Community Services Supervisor Daniella Gutierrez told Culver City Crossroads.
City officials said the program is also being observed as a test model for the 2028 Olympic Games, when similar community activations could be replicated.
The initiatives currently under development in Culver City’s draft Olympic Planning Framework for the 2028 Olympic Games, including contracting, site coordination and permitting for public spaces, make events like the World Cup screenings an early trial run for what is to come. The turnout also gave city officials an early measure of community interest in global sporting events.
“We pivoted and changed things to make today’s event better than [the previous] event in June,” Special Events Manager Edgar Varela told Culver City Crossroads. “These are good indications of what we have the capability to do, and that the community has the desire for it.”
Culver City’s final World Cup event will take place on July 19, at 6pm in the Town Plaza at the Culver Steps.
Clara Carvalho
