FOX Sports, the leader in live sports and official FIFA World Cup English-language broadcast rights-holder through 2026, furthered the success of its original series, WORLD CUP NOW and delivered fans an exclusive VIP experience for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia with WOMENS WORLD CUP NOW pre and postgame shows. From the get-go, FOX Sports’ vision was to have a cohesive look and feel between the broadcast television coverage and digital. Streaming live via FOX Soccer’s “X” channel (@FOXSoccer) across all 64 matches of the 2023 tournament, WOMENS WORLD CUP NOW featured live commentary, as well as in-stadium feeds, taking fans behind the scenes with their favorite players as they got set for competition on the world’s biggest stage. Post-game fans witnessed highlights of every magical moment, jersey swaps and celebrations, complete with instant reactions and best-in-class analysis. The WORLD CUP NOW team delivered wall-to-wall coverage of the FIFA Women’s World Cup with an elite roster of distinguished FOX soccer analysts, hosts, and tournament legends who also had prominent followings and presence across social media platforms. Over 60 hours of original content were produced over the 29-day tournament, anchored by a quartet of former National Team soccer stars that provided authentic expertise, thus WOMENS WORLD CUP NOW consistently brought a TV-quality approach to the digital space for every single show.
WOMENS WORLD CUP NOW streamed live on X with a brand new, state-of-the-art set featuring the iconic Sydney Opera House as it’s backdrop to deliver a TV broadcast-quality show on a social media platform. With a global event of this magnitude that saw 64 live matches in total over 29 days, a 19-hour time difference and over 7400 miles separating the production crews in Los Angeles and Sydney, WOMENS WORLD CUP NOW required an ambitious plan and a dedicated and talented team to bring it to life. Without a doubt, FOX Sports’ digital team rose to the challenge – delivering more than 60 hours of original content over 129 unique, live-streamed WOMENS WORLD CUP NOW shows. It was all backed by a cutting-edge studio set and graphics package, complete with legends of the game as hosts and analysts, and a talented team of producers & editors 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. FOX Sports has long been a pioneer in delivering soccer fans the best possible content experience, and WOMENS WORLD CUP NOW was no exception. The game plan for was to be live on X, before and after every single match of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, surrounding the network’s best-in-class television coverage of the tournament. WOMENS WORLD CUP NOW provided a platform to engage a younger audience and meet fans where they congregate online to discuss all-things sports. Viewers were encouraged to share their thoughts in real time throughout the tournament, with fan posts showcased during every single show. These shows took the social media world by storm and the soccer world took notice, with viewers tuning in for the chance to see soccer’s biggest stars compete on the world’s biggest stage.
Whether reacting to a big goal, watching highlights, predicting the outcome of the next match, or celebrating a victory, fans came to X to discuss the results with WOMENS WORLD CUP NOW front and center with its presence playing a critical role in driving viewers to streams of each match, resulting in the most-streamed FIFA Women’s World Cup in FOX Sports history. FOX Sports’ FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023, a crown jewel of the network’s unrivaled portfolio of international soccer tournaments, generated record-setting results across its digital platforms, with WOMENS WORLD CUP NOW leading the way. Women’s World Cup NOW had the most hours of digital programming ever attempted for a Men’s or Women’s FIFA World Cup™ and featured the most digital on-air talent in either tournament’s history. Additionally, WOMEN’S WORLD CUP NOW helped drive awareness for the tournament’s TV broadcasts, which saw great viewership success despite the games taking place overnight. FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 averaged 669,000 viewers across FOX & FS1, and the Final between England and Spain delivered 1,658,000 viewers, making it the most-watched non-USWNT Women’s World Cup Final in U.S. English language TV history, up 150% from the last non-USWNT Final (2007). For the U.S. Women’s matches, specifically, Group Stage ratings were the highest ever. These impressive results set the bar for what success will look like going forward for the FOX Sports’ digital team around both future Women and Men’s FIFA World Cup Tournaments and beyond.
