The 2026 FIFA World Cup is coming to the Bay Area, and the region's Host Committee has already found a way to make it feel smaller than it should.

Instead of organizing a large-scale official Fan Festival — the kind that turns host cities around the world into electric, unforgettable gathering places — the Bay Area committee has opted for a scattering of smaller fan zone viewing parties spread across the region. No central mega-event. No iconic communal experience. Just a bunch of modest watch parties, because apparently that's the best we can muster.

Look, there's a reasonable argument for decentralization. As one local noted, "Better to have more places than force everyone to go to one bigger one that could be far away. The San Jose one will probably be pretty busy since it has opening night and is the closest to the stadium." Fair enough. Accessibility matters, especially in a region where a simple cross-bridge commute can take an hour.

But let's be honest about what's really going on here. Organizing a large-scale public event in the Bay Area means navigating a bureaucratic nightmare of permits, liability concerns, neighborhood objections, and intergovernmental turf wars between San Francisco, San Jose, and Oakland. It's easier — and cheaper for the committee — to just not try.

And that's a shame. As one Bay Area resident put it, "That's so lame. My friend from other countries that have hosted the World Cup recently have all said the fan fests were some of the coolest things during the tournament." They're right. Fan Fests in cities like Rio, Moscow, and Doha became defining cultural moments — places where tens of thousands of strangers from dozens of countries came together around massive screens and celebrated the world's most popular sport. It's exactly the kind of thing a diverse, internationally connected region like the Bay Area should absolutely nail.

Instead, we're getting the potluck version of a World Cup experience. No single Pot 1 team is heading our way, which already dampens the star power. A huge, well-organized Fan Fest could have compensated for that — creating its own energy, drawing tourists, and generating real economic activity. Instead, the committee chose the path of least resistance.

The World Cup comes around once every four years. Hosting duties come around far less often. This was a chance to show the world what the Bay Area can do. Instead, we showed them what we usually do: play it safe, keep it small, and call it a win.