Sports and Music Unite: A Look Back at the Operationally Ambitious FIFA Club World Cup Final Halftime Show

Sports and Music Unite: A Look Back at the Operationally Ambitious FIFA Club World Cup Final Halftime ShowGlobal Citizen produced an impressive concert featuring J Balvin, Doja Cat, and Tems at MetLife Stadium last summerBy SVG Staff

Monday, January 12, 2026 - 12:27 pm

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Here in the United States, live sports producers know how to stage an extravagant halftime show. It's a form of spectacle American audiences have come to expect at championship events - but it has historically been far less common on the global stage.

That's about to change. This summer's FIFA World Cup Final at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey will feature the first-ever concert-style halftime show in the event's history, marking a significant shift in how the world's biggest sporting event blends live sport and live entertainment.

The international advocacy organization Global Citizen, alongside Coldplay frontman Chris Martin, will produce the watershed moment on July 19. And while it may be a first for the World Cup Final, it won't be their first time tackling a production of this scale at MetLife. Last summer, the group delivered an ambitious halftime show at the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, featuring J Balvin, Doja Cat, and Tems performing from the upper reaches of the stadium - a production that pushed the boundaries of live-event logistics, broadcast coordination, and stadium infrastructure.

In this exclusive interview, Lee Rolontz, Global Head of Broadcast and Original Content, Global Citizen Organization, offers a behind-the-scenes look at how that show came together, the operational challenges it presented, and why the worlds of sports production and live entertainment are becoming more intertwined than ever.

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This keynote presentation was made at the SVG LIVE! Sports and Entertainment Production conference in Los Angeles on November 12, 2025 and was moderated by Jeff Jacobs, SVP and Head of Production for NEP Group.

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LINK:	https://www.sportsvideo.org/2026/01/12/sports-and-music-unite-a-look-b...
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