Truly Pledges $5M to One Soccer Fan If the USMNT 'Wins It All'

One hard seltzer brand is making the loudest declaration of faith in U.S. Soccer this summer, and it comes with a $5-million price tag.

Truly Hard Seltzer, the official hard seltzer of U.S. Soccer, just launched its "Drink Like a Believer" campaign.

The tournament-long push is built on one of the largest single-fan prizes ever tied to American soccer.

If the U.S. Men's National Team (USMNT) wins the summer championship, one fan stands to walk away with $5 million.

The mechanics are straightforward.

Starting June 26, fans 21 and older can enter by posting a photo or video on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, or X showing their belief in U.S. Soccer.

They'll then have to film their video alongside a Truly x U.S. Soccer can or pack, then tag @Truly with #TrulyBelieves.

The contest runs as long as the U.S. advances through the tournament, which ends in July.

Should the team win it all, a single winner takes the grand prize, together with a custom Truly can featuring their own face on the label.

The campaign doubles as a customer engagement play, using social participation to deepen the brand's connection to fans who are already invested in the World Cup.

Cans and Cities Carry the Campaign

The Star Squad Variety Pack, developed in collaboration with U.S. Soccer, comes as a 12-pack featuring four flavors:

• Watermelon Wave
• Orange Slices
• Baller Berry
• Red, White & Tru

The second release is a set of 12 collectible Wild Berry cans, each designed with graphics inspired by one of the 11 host cities and one national can.

"Drink Like a Believer" itself kicked off with a stunt that renamed a city.

The brand invited fans to nominate the U.S. city that best represented soccer belief, a community vote that landed on Hoboken, NJ.

Since then, it was officially rechristened "Believe, USA" by mayoral proclamation, marking the first time a U.S. city has carried that name in nearly 250 years.

It also brought USMNT legend Brian McBride in as Honorary Mayor and included a pop-up clubhouse, collectible cans, and a tattoo station.

The city's renaming was about creating a physical destination for scattered fans, and now this $5-million contest scales it into a national, digital-first push.

Truly dangles a number big enough to lead headlines, while the long odds mean it most likely never pays out.

And this is the quiet math behind most big-ticket promotional strategies.

Lessons From a $5 Million Bet

Truly's campaign isn't the only one harnessing the energy surrounding U.S. Soccer this summer, but it makes a few moves worth studying closely.

• Let the prize do the storytelling: A number big enough to shock does the marketing on its own, since people share a $5-million headline far faster than any slogan.
• Tie packaging to place: Local-edition packaging turns a national product into a hometown one, which earns shelf attention no price cut can buy.
• Make entry feel enticing for fans: Fans promote a brand hardest when the ask is about their own passion instead of the brand's.

Truly made an abstract word like "believe" into real things fans can do, and that is what gives a campaign staying power.

Our Take: Does Belief Scale as a Brand Strategy?

If Truly were actually gambling, a USMNT win would sting.

Here, the brand only opens its wallet in the one outcome it's already cheering for.

This is why Truly's promo carries less risk than the $5-million number suggests.

The U.S. lifting the World Cup trophy is a long shot, so the brand gets to play the loud believer while the odds make sure it almost never has to pay.

Win or lose, we think Truly already won the day that fans started filming themselves with the cans.

The real prize was always the flood of posts chasing after the prize money in the off chance that the USMNT wins it all.

Explore these top brand strategy agencies in our directory to turn existing equity into something that still lands.