309 World Cup 2014: Macromarketing Views from Croatia Bruno Grbac, University of Rijeka, Croatia Clifford Shultz, Loyola University Chicago, USA This extended abstract is an abriged version of a longer document articulating a study on the effects of the FIFA World Cup, an organizationally, financially, economically and politically demanding quadrennial sporting spectacle that affects billions of global citizens. This reality raises questions about the effects of the World Cup on the marketing system of the host country and the participating countries, as well as institutions and people in them. As a step toward sharing insights the authors analyzed secondary data and conducted field research to assess retail, catering, banking, advertising, fan zones, betting establishments, and consumer behavior in three of the largest cites in Croatia, a country that has seen considerable success in recent FIFA tournaments, including the World Cup. Findings revealed a number of positive changes in the political, economic, social, technological, corporate and consumer spheres. It was concluded that the organization of the World Cup contributed to geo-political harmony, manifested in the strengthening of unity among states competing in sport instead of economic and armed conflicts. On the other hand, a certain process of trivialization in culture is observed, where one branch of sport and its protagonists ‘touch the stars’ and become national heroes and symbols of success while the real creators and bearers of new values, such as entrepreneurs, managers, scientists and artists remain comparatively neglected. Given the impact on the global marketing system, football/soccer is considerably more than a game, and must be administered, studied and interpreted accordingly.