Rowan University welcomed Brea Webster-Stanko, deputy executive director for PHL Sports & deputy tournament officer for FIFA World Cup Philadelphia, on Monday to speak with students in King Auditorium. In her discussion, Webster-Stank0 talked about her illustrious career and her involvement in bringing the FIFA World Cup to Philadelphia in 2026.
As a student athlete in college, Webster-Stanko said she always had an interest in working in sports, with her path beginning as an intern with the Philadelphia Eagles.
In her current position, Webster-Stanko creates economic impact for Philadelphia by bringing large-scale events to the city and tackling different hospitality aspects like filling hotels and hosting events at the convention center. Now, as the World Cup gets closer, she has transitioned into a member of the host committee. Webster-Stanko also revealed that her team has been working on the World Cup since 2017.
“We hosted the NFL Draft in 2017, and the next day we had to put in to be part of the bid process [for the World Cup],” Webster-Stanko said. “COVID didn’t help, and the process got a little longer, but we were awarded it in June 2022.”
She went on to say that although it has been quite a journey, she can’t believe it’s already here.
While speaking on her experience with the NFL Draft, Webster-Stanko explained how exciting it was to be the second city to host the event outside of New York. The year prior, she and her team traveled to Chicago to get a feel for how the Windy City put the draft together and how to make it exciting in Philadelphia.
“The city allowed us to use the Rocky Steps and the Parkway, and we kind of gave them that idea, and they came back and built an amazing stage,” Webster-Stanko said. “I think that kind of helped us. It was different, and outside of the box, and it was the first time the whole part of the NFL Draft was held outside.”
2026 is shaping up to be an exciting year for Philadelphia, with the city also set to host the MLB All-Star Game. Students in attendance were curious to see if that would impact the World Cup matches held at Lincoln Financial Field. However, Webster-Stanko explained that FIFA and MLB had a strong partnership and had worked with them to ensure everything would run smoothly at the sports complex.
“FIFA and MLB talked from the beginning, making sure that we didn’t have a Phillies game on a World Cup game day,” Webster-Stanko said.
The city was awarded the MLB All-Star game back in 2019, before the bidding for the World Cup began. Webster-Stanko said she and her team were very honest about the possible conflict when submitting the bid for Philadelphia to become one of the host cities.
Another aspect of having the World Cup in Philadelphia that Webster-Stanko is looking forward to is growing the game of soccer in the city. Although Philadelphia already has an MLS team, there is still no National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) team, meaning the success of the World Cup could eventually bring one to Philadelphia.
“It will 100% grow the game, and that’s our goal,” Webster-Stanko said.
To end the conversation, Webster-Stanko wanted to leave students with one piece of advice to help them with their future careers in the sports industry.
“Be open-minded, it’s hard work. Be willing to say yes to every opportunity, even if it’s in another department,” Webster-Stanko said. “You have to be a hard worker, keep your head down, and get it done.”
For comments/questions about this story, DM us on Instagram @thewhitatrowan or email [email protected]
