Bank of America CEO on how its FIFA sponsorship is going: ‘We feel good’

The decision to become FIFA’s first-ever World Cup banking sponsor has certainly found the back of the net, at least from Bank of America chief executive Brian Moynihan’s perspective.

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The bank announced its FIFA partnership in 2024, for the 2026 tournament in North America. While the bank has never disclosed what it is spending, multiple published reports indicate the sponsorship costs tens of millions of dollars, and possibly around $100 million.

That’s been money well spent, Moynihan says, even exceeding his expectations given all the positive hoopla around the games. (While the bank is based in Charlotte, N.C., Moynihan is a Massachusetts executive and joined the bank more than two decades ago through BofA’s acquisition of FleetBoston.)

Through the FIFA sponsorship, BofA is working on an initiative dubbed “Soccer at Schools” to ensure the game is played in every US public school by 2030. The bank also teamed up with Visa and Charlotte-based nonprofit Street Soccer USA to build soccer parks in every World Cup host city, including one at the West Broadway housing project in South Boston.

Moynihan said he’s noticed a jump in spending, such as at restaurants, in host cities including Boston. That’s expected to translate to a nearly $20 billion boost in the nation’s gross domestic product this year.

“It does have a real economic impact,” Moynihan said in an interview. “We feel good about that.”

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The motivation for the sponsorship goes well beyond stoking the local economies of host cities. Because the 2026 tournament is primarily being played in the US, Moynihan sees the sponsorship as a way to build the bank’s cachet in its core market.

“Our goal, as this came to the United States, was we could work with FIFA to bring soccer — and football as it’s called by our friends in other countries — to the local markets,” Moynihan said. “We feel very good about what we’ve seen so far. … It was mostly built around bringing this level of soccer competition to a broader audience within the US.”

Moynihan said he saw the sponsorship dollars in action while eating dinner in the North End recently, and seeing jubilant Scotland fans streaming through the neighborhood’s streets. Miceal Chamberlain, president of the bank’s Massachusetts operations, notes that the sponsorship has been helpful for employees, too, in part by giving them new volunteer opportunities.

“People are seeing our country having fun,” Moynihan said. “It was good to see that.”

This is an installment of our weekly Bold Types column about the movers and shakers on Boston’s business scene.

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