Your $10M sponsorship is exposed. Here are the 10 risks nobody is talking about.

On February 14, 2026, the White House formally froze $2.1B in federal transit grants to New York, citing sanctuary city non-compliance. The MTA has halted Second Avenue Subway Phase 2 procurement. Penn Station access improvements are paused mid-construction. NJ Transit's Gateway Tunnel boring machines sit idle. With 113 days until opening ceremony, the NYC metro area's capacity to move 600K+ match-day fans is now structurally compromised.

A sponsor investing $15M in a NYC fan zone activation now faces $9.75M in confirmed risk exposure. The Gateway Tunnel is officially stalled. NJ Transit capacity will drop 40% during match days. Governor Hochul has called an emergency transit summit for February 28 but has no federal leverage. Your guests literally cannot reach MetLife Stadium at scale.

The federal government shutdown that began February 1 is now in its 18th day with no resolution in sight. 34,000 permit applications are frozen across DHS, TSA, FAA, and FEMA. 8,200 TSA agents are working without pay at World Cup gateway airports. FAA has suspended all new drone authorizations and temporary flight restrictions. FEMA's World Cup emergency coordination center in DC is unstaffed. Security credentialing for 45,000 venue construction and event workers has halted completely.

This is now the longest shutdown within 6 months of a major international sporting event in U.S. history. The 2018-2019 shutdown (35 days) delayed $2.8B in infrastructure. We are on pace to surpass that. With 111 days to opening ceremony, every day lost is mathematically irrecoverable. FIFA Secretary General has issued a formal letter of concern to the White House.

Lake Mead dropped to 871 feet on February 15, 2026, breaching the dead pool threshold for the first time in history. The Bureau of Reclamation declared a Tier 4 emergency, cutting Nevada's Colorado River allocation by 38%. Las Vegas has imposed Stage 3 mandatory water rationing: commercial properties limited to 60% of 2024 usage. Allegiant Stadium requires 2.3M gallons per match day for cooling, turf maintenance, and hospitality. The Southern Nevada Water Authority has begun emergency procurement of desalinated water from the Pacific coast at 11x normal cost.

Las Vegas was chosen for its hospitality infrastructure. But hospitality requires water. The Bellagio fountains are off. Caesars Palace has drained two pools. Every cooling system, landscaped activation space, and catering operation is now rationed. Sponsors who committed to Las Vegas activations at 2024 water prices face a 4x budget overrun minimum.