FOX Sports Becomes First National Broadcaster Pledging a Percentage of Its FIFA World Cup™ Tournament Coverage Through 2026 to Share the Story of Soccer for Social Impact
Local Youth Soccer Events and Storytelling Content Series Celebrate and Spotlight the Impact of the Sport Across the Country
Watch the Announcement Video Here
LOS ANGELES – FOX Sports, America’s English-language home for the FIFA World Cup™ through 2026, today announces it has joined the Common Goal movement in a multi-year collaboration dedicated to sharing the story of soccer for social impact in the United States.
Over the next three World Cup tournaments, FOX Sports and Common Goal USA will join forces in the effort to make soccer accessible, diverse and inclusive for all youth athletes and work to shift the narrative about the impact the sport can have to change lives, while capitalizing on the network’s promise to celebrate the beautiful game at every level of play.
Driving forward the company’s commitment to creating and advancing fighting chances for all to play and access sports, FOX Sports is joining the Common Goal movement as the first ever national FIFA World Cup™ broadcaster to take Common Goal’s 1% pledge, targeting 1% of its World Cup coverage through 2026 to tell the story of soccer for good cross-platform.
The collaboration amplifies the work of Common Goal’s U.S.-based community organizations through local soccer events supporting youth athletes in underserved communities, and a series of storytelling content and PSAs that will air across FOX Sports’ platforms throughout the tournaments, including multiple features as part of FOX Sports’ award-winning pro-social series VOICES highlighting diverse sports stories impacting our communities and culture.
Terri Hines, Executive Vice President, Communications, FOX Sports, emphasized the importance of the new collaboration: “FOX Sports is thrilled to join the Common Goal movement and utilize our wide-reaching platform along with the power of soccer to drive positive social change,” said Hines. “With this multi-year collaboration, we are committed to working together to help transform the lives of young people across our country, creating lasting impact and sharing a message of inclusion and community empowerment through the sport.”
“FOX Sports is a name synonymous with the FIFA World Cup in the U.S. and is a powerful player in the global soccer industry as America’s broadcast leader for the biggest international tournaments,” said Lilli Barrett-O’Keefe, Executive Director, Common Goal USA. “Now, FOX Sports is reinforcing their commitment by adopting Common Goal’s 1% framework, not only to this years’ FIFA World Cup, but also the FIFA Women’s World Cup next year, and the FIFA World Cup in 2026 that the U.S. will co-host with Mexico and Canada. We look forward to continuing to build on this exciting collaboration.”
“This sends a powerful message to the entire industry that the soccer business is heading towards an era of radical collaboration that enables the sport to fulfill its true potential in maximizing impact for people and planet,” said Jürgen Griesbeck, Co-Founder and CEO, Common Goal. “There’s no stopping this positive momentum, and I’m confident that FOX Sports becoming part of Common Goal will inspire other soccer stakeholders to join the movement.”
Common Goal is a non-profit organization rooted in the belief that the world’s most popular sport is one of the few cultural forces strong enough to help shift society towards a more sustainable and equitable future for all. The global movement unites the global soccer community to act and collaborate towards the wellbeing of our people and planet through a simple yet impactful mechanism: players, managers, clubs, brands, media outlets and other soccer industry stakeholders pledge a minimum of 1% of earnings, sales and other resources to initiatives using soccer to drive progress towards sustainable social change.
Leading up to this year’s FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™, FOX Sports and Common Goal USA hosted two thrilling soccer-themed festivals for youth in Los Angeles and New York City focused on skills trainings, personal development on and off the field and friendly competitions, with more planned in the next four years. Common Goal Festival Los Angeles took place on Tuesday, Aug. 9 in celebration of reaching 100 days to FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™, while Common Goal Festival New York was held on Thursday, Oct. 13 at The Ground NYC. Members of FOX Sports’ FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ broadcast team, including lead play-by-play announcer John Strong, lead match analyst Stu Holden, lead studio analyst Alexi Lalas, FIFA WORLD CUP TONIGHT lead analyst Maurice Edu, host Rob Stone and reporters Jenny Taft and Rodolfo Landeros participated in clinics and empowerment sessions with the athletes during the events.
The relationship between Common Goal and FOX Sports kicked off during the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™, when FOX Sports supported and featured Play Proud, Common Goal’s initiative to make soccer a safe and inclusive space for the LGBTQ+ community, throughout its tournament coverage.
From Sunday, Nov. 20 through Sunday, Dec. 18, FOX Sports will present all 64 FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ matches live across FOX and FS1 with every match live streaming on the FOX Sports app.
For more information, visit FOX Sports Press Pass and follow @FOXSportsPR on Twitter.
About FOX Sports
FOX Sports is the umbrella entity representing FOX Corporation’s wide array of multi-platform US-based sports assets. Built with brands capable of reaching more than 100 million viewers in a single weekend, the business has ownership and interests in linear television networks, digital and mobile programming, broadband platforms, multiple web sites, joint-venture businesses and several licensing relationships. FOX Sports includes the sports television arm of the FOX Network; FS1, FS2, FOX Soccer Plus and FOX Deportes. FOX Sports’ digital properties include FOXSports.com and the FOX Sports App, which provides live streaming video of FOX Sports content, instant scores, stats and alerts to iOS and Android devices. Additionally, FOX Sports and social broadcasting platform Caffeine jointly own Caffeine Studios which creates exclusive eSports, sports and live entertainment content. Also included in FOX Sports’ portfolio are FOX’s interests in joint-venture business Big Ten Network, a licensing and commercial relationship with The Stars Group that created the FOX Bet sports betting platform and the FOX Bet Super 6 free-to-play game, as well as a licensing agreement that established the FOX Sports Radio Network.
Contact:
Mark Toyama
Mark.Toyama@fox.com