About the Author
SEC Newgate Italy Team
As the 2026 FIFA World Cup is entering its most decisive stages, attention and competition have intensified. But as with all major global events, what unfolds on the pitch is only part of the story – the real test lies after the final whistle. In other words: how can organisations build a lasting legacy?
Drawing on our experience at the Milano-Cortina 2026 Winter Games, we explore how legacy takes shape in practice through concrete client projects, partnerships, and the ongoing management of visibility, expectations, and value.
Supporting key projects at Milano-Cortina 2026
At the Milano-Cortina 2026 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, SEC Newgate Italy was involved across a range of highly visible and strategically significant projects, supporting both the development of key infrastructures and the work of partners and sponsors.
From the Olympic Village developed by Coima, through to the Milano Ice Park at Fieramilano Rho, developed by Fondazione Fiera Milano for hockey and speed skating competitions, to work with two Games sponsors — Coca-Cola, a long-standing Olympic main sponsor, and Airbnb — as well as an “exceptional supplier”, Balich Wonder Studio, which designed the Olympic Ceremony.
Infrastructure projects: aligning delivery with long-term value
At major events, infrastructure projects inevitably attract significant public attention, as they are expected to enable the sustainable development of sports competitions and, where possible, generate lasting benefits for regions, institutions, businesses, and communities. Meeting these expectations requires long-term vision, well-defined planning from the outset, as well as consistent support throughout the entire project, underpinned by solid governance and shared responsibility among stakeholders.
Yet, one of the main risks lies in fragmented decision-making. Large-scale events engage multiple stakeholders with different levels of responsibility — institutions, organisers, sponsors, technical partners, and local communities — often with divergent priorities. The challenge is both operational and strategic: it requires building credible alignment around a shared objective in the public interest, while preventing urgency, budget constraints, or political pressure from undermining the coherence of the overall project.
When communicating with the general public and local communities, it is essential to act with transparency and ensure constant engagement with local institutions and stakeholders across the territory, providing full support to communications bodies while respecting different roles.
From the outset of the Coima Olympic Village project, communications combined a narrative around the infrastructure’s intended use as a residential complex during the Games with a strong focus on its legacy as the largest subsidised student residence in Italy. The coordinated media relations and community engagement strategy ensured that media, institutions, and citizens received complete and consistent messages while being involved at every stage of the works. Through this approach, it was possible to foster a genuinely positive narrative around the project, preventing mistrust and scepticism (for example, by respecting deadlines) and reinforcing the perception of the Village as an infrastructure that was not only efficient and consistent with Italian hospitality — as recognised by the athletes themselves — but also capable of generating lasting value for the city.
A similar approach guided the work on the Milano Ice Park, where communications played a central role in shaping the project’s evolution over time and its understanding among stakeholders. Communication support began when Fondazione Fiera Milano offered Milano-Cortina 2026 an efficient and highly sustainable solution for hockey and speed skating competitions by integrating the construction of a large rink within an existing structure — the Fiera exhibition centre. This solution had the advantage of leveraging the building’s existing functionalities, requiring intervention only in the connection between two exhibition halls.
It was later announced that this new area would be repurposed after the Games as a “Live Dome”: a high-capacity indoor venue for events and concerts. The great success of the Winter Games brought renewed attention to Milan’s need to once again have an ice arena where athletes could train and develop. As a result, Fondazione Fiera Milano presented a new project: the Milan Ice Fiera Arena, currently under construction within the exhibition complex. By communicating every stage and decision-making step, we highlighted Fondazione Fiera Milano’s role as an active promoter of cultural, social, and sporting initiatives, capable of identifying emerging community needs while also creating new opportunities for infrastructure development for its subsidiary, Fiera Milano SpA, thereby sharing value and impact among all stakeholders involved: the Foundation, the Fiera Group, and local communities.
Managing the visibility of key Olympic players
Major sporting events are extraordinary opportunities for storytelling and positioning; however, the extremely intense media ecosystem requires creative narratives and careful governance, as media attention can quickly shift towards critical issues. Designing resilient communication frameworks, testing messages, monitoring weak signals, and activating rapid and credible responses lays the groundwork for maximising reputation and relationships, regardless of potential challenges.
The media relations strategy for Balich Wonder Studio started well ahead of the Olympic Ceremony, with the aim of building a “repository” of awareness and reputation that would continue beyond the event itself. As nothing could be revealed about the ceremony, we offered the media the opportunity to explore what was happening “behind the scenes”, including the stories of the various professionals involved. We were able to showcase the studio’s multidisciplinarity and move beyond the idea of a “one-man company”, highlighting the extraordinary creativity and meticulous attention to detail that characterise “Made in Italy”. The exposure given to different professionals, combined with broad media coverage and the remarkable success of the Ceremony, generated a significant and lasting reputational impact not only for Creative Director and Executive Producer Marco Balich, but for the studio itself.
The work with Airbnb focused on national and local institutional relations and stakeholder engagement by co-designing and delivering ad hoc initiatives aimed at engaging stakeholders on issues of strategic national relevance. Among these initiatives, it is worth mentioning the conversation on the impact of major events held at Casa Italia in Milan (at the Triennale di Milano museum), featuring the Italian Minister of Tourism, members of Parliament from the Milan area particularly engaged in sport and tourism issues, and Airbnb’s top management.
Supporting Coca-Cola, a historic Olympic main sponsor for almost 100 years, involved sophisticated, multi-layered public affairs and community relations activities spanning more than a year. We supported the client across various activities, including strategic planning, technical and institutional relationship management, and the coordination of organisational aspects across different stages of the project. The work began well ahead of the Games, with the launch of a research project on the Olympic Spirit (praised by the International Olympic Committee) and activities around the Torch Relay, engaging institutional stakeholders and organising public events along its 10 stops. During the Games, we contributed to the design, development, and opening of “The Peak”, Coca-Cola’s pavilion at Milan’s Castello Sforzesco, while ensuring the engagement of all stakeholders involved in the project.
When the Olympic and Paralympic Games ended, our support did not. We continued supporting both Coca-Cola and Airbnb in selecting causes or entities aligned with the objectives of sporting legacy, the Paralympic spirit, and the companies’ values to which to donate. This is what building a lasting legacy means.