The World Cup’s real impact in the US goes beyond live games
At its recent TV upfront presentation in New York City, Fox executives touted that the company is expecting at least 15 million viewers for each U.S. match of the World Cup, and 150 million combined viewers across the entire tournament.
It’s why experts say that live sports offer unmatched scale and attention, and the World Cup is likely to be no different. Still, recent WARC research hints that the event’s impact on ad spend growth could be more subtle than what the expected viewership implies.
While the report estimated that the World Cup could inject an additional $10.5 billion into the global ad market, it also projected that the regional effects would be nuanced. In the U.S., for instance, the scale of the ad market dilutes ad spend growth from the World Cup, according to WARC.
The report suggests that the event’s true impact in the U.S. for brands might be felt both on and off the field, in ancillary media consumption. In other words: Omnichannel.
“In established soccer markets, the spend concentrates where it always has: Linear broadcast, official sponsorship tiers, stadium activations,” Oz Etzioni, CEO of Clinch, told The Current. “In the U.S., brands must assemble the audience across podcasts, creator programming, sports docs, OOH and streaming. The campaign architecture is different.”
The World Cup is still a TV juggernaut
That’s not to say the World Cup won’t be a major TV event, though. Quite the contrary. Fandom in the U.S. for soccer is growing as the sport has become more accessible, increasing 17% since 2020.
“Soccer is among the sports U.S. fans say has become easier to follow this year, with EPL, MLS, and NWSL audiences noting that streaming has improved access,” said John Giegengack, principal and founder of Hub Entertainment Research. “In contrast, fans of major leagues like the NFL and MLB report [in our research] that content has become harder to find.”
International tournaments like Copa América and UEFA Euro have climbed in audience size in recent years, while the Premier League’s most-watched U.S. broadcast ever — the high-stakes title clash between Arsenal and Manchester City — recently aired on NBC and Peacock, according to Nielsen. The momentum appears set to continue: In WARC’s survey, 37% of Americans say they expect their interest to rise in the next 18 months.
It bodes well for World Cup viewership. Fox will air all 104 matches live, including on its streaming service, Fox One. And this week, the company announced that its free, ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) platform, Tubi, will live stream the opening ceremonies and two opening matches.
Etzioni noted how the World Cup is more like an extended moment like the Olympics than a concentrated mega-event like the Super Bowl, meaning creative and media plans must evolve along with the storylines. But that means there’s an opening for marketers to ride the World Cup momentum across days and channels.
“Social media, creator content, podcasts and documentaries now play a central role in how audiences engage with sports,” Giegengack said. “A lot of this impact happens organically; sports media are increasingly leveraging these channels to drive deeper engagement beyond traditional TV.”
Podcasts and docuseries could see a lift
On Spotify, sports podcast consumption surges in the days after a major event, according to WARC, and overall sports consumption on the platform has grown four times year-over-year. That could carry over to World-Cup-related podcasts — and brands activating through audio.
A recent Nielsen report cited by WARC also shows that viewership of sports documentaries quadrupled from 2021 through 2024. And according to Hub Entertainment Research, over half of casual sports fans watch sports documentaries. Netflix even highlighted 13 soccer documentaries on its service in November in anticipation of the World Cup.
The Tubi World Cup hub is especially leaning into this cross-consumption: A new video podcast series, The Other Football, will be hosted by the NFL’s Rob Gronkowski and Jameis Winston, and the docuseries Destination World Cup 2026 will dive into players’ personal lives. It will also feature original programs from content creators.
With streaming TV platforms increasingly leveraging advertising, as evidenced by the upfronts, it presents another opportunity for brands to capitalize on the World Cup’s popularity.
From the WARC report: “Streaming sports documentaries have emerged as a powerful retention engine — minutes streamed for these titles exploded year-over-year — illustrating how major event interest ripples beyond the live window and strengthens brand visibility in the long tail.”
Still, Clinch’s Etzioni admits that coordinated activations across so many touchpoints is no easy task for brands, especially in a market where soccer hasn’t quite reached its full potential. He likened it to F1 in the U.S.: still growing, but its breakthrough didn’t come from the broadcast itself.
“Something similar might play out in reverse with the World Cup,” he said. “The matches themselves will draw casual viewers. Whatever cultural depth follows will come from podcasts, docs, creator content and the surrounding storytelling. That’s also where most of the new brand spend is flowing.”