World Cup NOW

ABOUT THIS ENTRY

FOX Sports, the leader in live sports and official FIFA World Cup English-language broadcast rights-holder through 2026, expanded its relationship with Twitter for this year’s tournament in Qatar to bring fans an exclusive VIP experience unlike anything that’s been seen before on the platform with its WORLD CUP NOW pre- and postgame show.

How does this represent “Excellence in Engagement”?

WORLD CUP NOW's impressive results - with over 88 million views over 129 live-streamed shows—set the bar at a new high for platform-specific video series and forged a blueprint for what success will look like going forward for FOX Sports’ digital team, with the network planning to duplicate the efforts for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, and beyond.

WORLD CUP NOW engaged millions of fans throughout the world’s greatest sporting event with expert analysis and insight from former national team stars DaMarcus Beasley, Jimmy Conrad, Sacha Kljestan, and Melissa Ortiz, who anchored the Twitter-only show.

FOX Sports was able to seamlessly integrate its new talent into a digital space while incorporating them into the television broadcast, thus maximizing their exposure and awareness for the Twitter-only show.

WORLD CUP NOW also featured regular appearances from FOX Sports soccer analysts and personalities from the TV broadcast team throughout the tournament, including former United States National Team standouts Landon Donovan, Carli Lloyd, Cobi Jones, Maurice Edu, and Stu Holden. Prominent soccer pundits Kate Abdo, Warren Barton, Derek Rae, and Kelly Smith also joined in on the fun, along with former NFL star and soccer aficionado, Chad Johnson.

Objective

FOX Sports, the leader in live sports and official FIFA World Cup™ English-language broadcast rights-holder through 2026, expanded its relationship with Twitter for this year’s tournament in Qatar to bring fans an exclusive VIP experience, unlike anything that’s been seen before on the platform with its WORLD CUP NOW pre- and postgame show.

Streamed live exclusively via FOX Soccer’s Twitter channel (@FOXSoccer) before and after all 64 matches of the 2022 tournament, WORLD CUP NOW engaged millions of fans throughout the world’s greatest sporting event with expert analysis and insight from former national team stars DaMarcus Beasley, Jimmy Conrad, Sacha Kljestan and Melissa Ortiz.

The show also featured regular appearances from FOX Sports soccer analysts and personalities Maurice Edu, Carli Lloyd, Warren Barton, Cobi Jones, Kate Abdo, and Landon Donovan, among others.

The pregame shows featured live commentary, as well as in-stadium feeds, taking fans inside the stadium with their favorite players as they got set for competition on the world’s biggest stage. After each match, the postgame shows included highlights of every magical moment, jersey swap, and celebration, complete with instant reaction and best-in-class analysis from some of the biggest names in the sport.

Strategy & Execution

Producing live streaming content is difficult no matter the circumstance – but executing around a global event, with 64 live matches in total over 29 days, an 11-hour time difference, and 8,000 miles separating the crews? There’s nothing else like it—which required an ambitious plan and a dedicated and talented team to bring WORLD CUP NOW to life.

FOX Sports’ vision was to have a cohesive look and feel between the broadcast television coverage and digital. WORLD CUP NOW originated from a brand new, state-of-the-art set located in Doha, Qatar, and incorporated the same graphics package as what fans saw on TV, including the same wipes, animations, transitions, and player cards to deliver a TV broadcast-quality show on Twitter.

WCNow delivered more than 60 hours of original content over 129 unique, live-streamed shows, backed by a cutting-edge studio set and graphics package and hosted by legends of the beautiful game, all while leaning on a talented team of producers who provided round-the-clock support from the FOX lot in Los Angeles.

Despite the challenges, the workflow didn’t sacrifice on quality, with the team creating efficiencies that helped ensure a best-in-class product that earned glowing reviews from industry experts and fans alike.

Organizations

• FOX Sports

Featured Athletes & Media

• Landon Donovan
• Maurice Edu
• Carli Lloyd
• Stu Holden
• Cobi Jones
• Kate Abdo
• Warren Barton
• Derek Rae
• Kelly Smith
• Chad Johnson

Credits

Michael Bucklin
SVP, Digital
FOX Sports

Nick Rago
Head of Digital and Social Production
FOX Sports

Ricardo Perez Selsky
Head of Digital Production and Tech Operations
FOX Sports

Fran Arthur
Producer - Social Media
FOX Sports

Jimmy Conrad
World Cup NOW Host
FOX Sports

Sacha Kljestan
World Cup NOW Host
FOX Sports

Melissa Ortiz
World Cup NOW Host
FOX Sports

DaMarcus Beasley
World Cup NOW Host
FOX Sports

John Marcus
Head of Technical Operations
FOX Sports

Thomas Meason
Head of Digital Production Operations
FOX Sports

Chris Cheshire
Digital Technical Operations
FOX Sports

Carla Gutierrez
Digital Production Operations
FOX Sports

Erin Schechter
Digital Production Operations
FOX Sports

Jeremy Benbow
Digital Production Operations
FOX Sports

Sean Sullivan
Digital Producer
FOX Sports

Ryan Bartlett
Digital Producer
FOX Sports

Danny Devito
Designer
FOX Sports

Jonathan Berger
Graphics (World Cup NOW)
FOX Sports

Trip Westmoreland
Graphics (World Cup NOW)
FOX Sports

Torin Westfall
Tape / B-Roll (World Cup NOW)
FOX Sports

Bri Melton
Tape / B-Roll (World Cup NOW)
FOX Sports

Polly Marino
Social Media (World Cup NOW)
FOX Sports

Alex Calvert
Social Media (World Cup NOW)
FOX Sports