When the World Cup starts, nothing else matters.
FOX One has launched a new multi-platform campaign titled "The FIFA World Cup Comes First."
Developed with agency Anomaly, the efforts are built around the premise that soccer fandom is all-consuming, focusing on the emotional intensity of watching the sport live.
"The World Cup isn't a passive experience for the fans, and so we set out to market the dynamic, real-time viewing experience that only FOX One can deliver," said Brian Borkowski, CMO of FOX DtC.
For Anomaly, the brief was also partly about separation from the wider streaming pack.
"In a category full of platforms talking about access and content libraries, we wanted to reflect who FOX One truly is — the one service that actually understands soccer fans," said Josh Fell, partner and CCO at Anomaly LA.
The campaign arrives as FOX One looks to reframe the 2026 FIFA World Cup from being solely a live event into a sustained subscription experience.
This is core to the service's brand positioning as it goes up against other established platforms making the most out of the global event.
When the Match Can't Wait
The centerpiece of the campaign is four 30-second films, each dramatizing what happens when a soccer fan refuses to let a match come second.
No matter what else is on their schedule.
The scenarios are played for comedy: someone attempting a driving test, another lifeguarding, both unwilling to look away from the screen.
Notably, the films are scored to Frankie Valli's "Can't Take My Eyes Off You," making for the perfect soundtrack to every football fan's fixations.
Each film closes with the tagline "The FIFA World Cup Comes First" before pivoting to the product: all 104 matches, live, in 4K, with multiview options and key replays.
Apart from the spots, the campaign includes creator extensions across social platforms to show audiences what World Cup season looks like on FOX One.
The push spans connected TV, online video, paid social, and out-of-home placements in New York and Los Angeles, with a rollout designed to evolve across the tournament's full 39-day run.
"The FIFA World Cup Comes First" continues a streak of marketing campaigns the network has executed ahead of the global sporting event.
Previously, it partnered with Indeed to offer one fan $50,000 to watch all 104 matches from a glass studio in Times Square.
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It's a stunt that brought FOX One's World Cup brand identity into a hiring context and earned significant public attention in its own right.
Why World Cup Marketing Is Set to Pay Off
The 2026 tournament is the largest in FIFA history, with 48 teams, 104 matches, spread across the United States, Mexico, and Canada.
And with an estimated six billion people globally interacting with the tournament in some way, this gives brands a rare window of sustained, high-engagement attention across weeks.
Here's what marketing and brand teams can draw from FOX One's approach:
- Treat fandom as an identity. FOX One isn't marketing to "soccer viewers," but to people who define themselves through the sport. Campaigns that reflect that intensity earn more trust than ones built around access.
- Emotional creative travels further. The Frankie Valli-scored films work because they dramatize a feeling. Leading with emotion can do numbers in live sports contexts where viewers are already primed.
- Long tournament windows reward always-on strategies. Brands with the budget and creative infrastructure to evolve messaging across 39 days get more out of the full attention cycle.
The World Cup's multinational footprint across three host countries also means FOX One's campaign will speak to a more culturally diverse audience than most domestic sports tentpoles.
Our Take: Is Fan-First Streaming the New Default?
Probably. Networks used to win by being the biggest name in the room.
That still counts for something, but it's not what gets someone to hand over a credit card anymore.
This is why it's smart for FOX One to make fans the center of the story instead of the platform.
The films work because they're true; plenty of people have done something exactly like that just to catch a match.
And being relatable sometimes matters more in capturing brand loyalty than price tags, subscription deals, and overly polished ads.
In short, a funny campaign viewers can see themselves in may be the key to more signups and dominating the World Cup season.
Brands looking to modernize hiring campaigns need partners who understand audience-led hiring strategies and social-first campaign development.
Explore these top recruiting agencies in our directory.
