Hugh Grant backs MediaCity’s World Cup playground with giant screens
hugh grant arrived in a week when MediaCity put a new World Cup playground at the center of Greater Manchester’s tournament build-up. The site opened ahead of England’s first match in the 2026 FIFA World Cup against Croatia, giving the ’s home base a public-facing football venue with a bespoke five-a-side pitch and giant screens.
MediaCity says it is its biggest programme of events to date, and Alice Webb described the site as “the ultimate football playground.” That is a bigger operational move than a one-night screening: the space is built to pull in fans, families and communities with matches, creator takeovers, tournaments, gaming, music and street food in one place.
Alice Webb’s MediaCity plan
Webb said, “As the nerve centre of ’s World Cup coverage, we’re turning MediaCity into the ultimate football playground,” and added, “As well as broadcasting the World Cup, MediaCity will unite fans, families and communities, bringing them closer to the action with in-person experiences throughout the tournament. Combining our world-class media platform with unrivalled public experiences is what makes us different.” Those lines make the strategy plain: MediaCity is using the tournament to extend its broadcast role into a live public destination.
The programme goes well beyond a standard fan zone. Alongside the five-a-side pitch and giant screens, MediaCity is lining up big name creator takeovers, pundits in the action, a pop-up gaming hub with EA FC tournaments, live music, DJ sets, football-themed quizzes and food from GRUB On The Docks. For attendees, that means the experience is spread across sport, gaming and entertainment rather than a single viewing area.
Manchester United Foundation sessions
Community football sessions for young people will be organised by Manchester United Foundation and Foundation 92. That gives the opening a structured grassroots layer, not just a broadcast backdrop, and it means the site is designed to draw in younger players as well as match-going adults.
The timing also matters. MediaCity opened this World Cup setup tonight, on the same evening England plays Croatia, so the first crowd to use it arrives at peak tournament interest rather than waiting for a later stage. That should give the venue an immediate read on how well the mix of screens, pitch access and scheduled activities works in practice.
Rio at Gardens Lounge
Gardens Lounge in Salford opened last week, and a separate petition called Free Rio has now gained more than 10,000 signatures over the display of a blue macaw named Rio in a glass box at its heart. The petition says Rio is being kept in wholly inadequate conditions and argues that he is being used as a prop and décor to attract customers.
That dispute sits in the background of MediaCity’s broader weekend push. One part of the area is selling a crowded, communal tournament experience; another nearby business is dealing with criticism over how it presents a live animal to customers. For readers heading to the World Cup playground, the useful takeaway is simple: the new site is built for live participation, while the wider Salford setting is already carrying a separate public controversy.
