UNC-Chapel Hill experts available to discuss FIFA World Cup 2026

UNC-Chapel Hill has several experts available for interviews related to the FIFA World Cup 2026. Experts can cover an array of topics including:

• Ticket pricing, including dynamic pricing
• Event attendance and fan experience
• Sports gambling, including daily fantasy sports
• World Cup team expansion
• Sport sponsorship and corporate naming
• Rights for sports venues
• Extreme heat implications for athletes, spectators, and staffers
• Potential for infectious disease spread
• Environmental impacts of mega sporting events and the environmental disparities from sport in urban settings

Experts include:

• Nels Popp, Ph.D., M.S. - Popp's research interests include revenue generation for college athletic departments with a particular emphasis on sport ticket sales at both the collegiate and professional sport levels.
• Colin Lopez, Ph.D., M.S. - Lopez's research primary area of research is related to consumer behavior and sports gambling.
• Jackson Sears, Ph.D., M.S. - Sears' research focuses on sport betting consumer behavior and the branding efforts of sport organizations.
• Jessica Murfee, Ph.D. - Murfree is a sport ecology researcher studying the effects of climate change on sport through societal implications of climate risks and environmental disparities. To date, her research has informed organizations including the United Nations Environment Programme, Climate Week NYC, Climate Central, Red Bull, and the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine. She is a 2023 Forbes 30 Under 30 in Sports Honoree
• Justin Lessler, Ph.D., M.H.S., M.S. - Lessler researches the dynamics and control of infectious disease, with particular interest in SARS-CoV-2, influenza, cholera and dengue. He and his colleagues systematically assessed the infections disease threat posed to the US by the FIFA World Cup 2026 in this preprint.

E-mail [email protected] to connect with an expert.