FOX Sports and Sesame Street Bring the FIFA World Cup 2026 to Family Audiences

The World Cup is getting a dose of Elmo, Cookie Monster, and Oscar the Grouch.

Ahead of the FIFA World Cup 2026, FOX Sports and Sesame Workshop announced a collaboration that folds Sesame Street characters directly into tournament coverage and programming.

The brand partnership arrives as broadcasters look for new ways to pull younger viewers and families into live sports viewing.

To do this, FOX Sports pushes World Cup viewing as a shared household experience that parents and children can watch together.

The campaign will integrate Elmo, Cookie Monster, Big Bird, Grover, The Count, and Oscar the Grouch into FOX Sports coverage beginning June 11 through the tournament final on July 19.

"We couldn’t be more excited to be working with one of the most adored children’s franchises in the world for FIFA World Cup 2026," said Zac Kenworthy, VP of production at FOX Sports.

"By collaborating with Sesame Street, we’re adding a fun and educational element that brings families together around the FOX Sports viewing experience."

For Sesame Workshop, the collaboration also brings awareness to one of the largest global media events of the decade.

FIFA World Cup 2026 will be the first edition hosted across three countries: the United States, Mexico, and Canada.

"The World Cup is one of the biggest cultural moments of the year, and a powerful opportunity to engage families with our beloved Sesame Street characters in new and unexpected ways," said Samantha Kennedy, VP of marketing at Sesame Workshop.

Ultimately, it's a joint brand marketing strategy that makes the most out of major sporting events, where networks are increasingly trying to gain cultural footprint through coverage.

Bringing the Characters Pitchside

The campaign includes several recurring content segments designed around Sesame Street personalities.

One segment titled "The Count Down" features Count von Count breaking down tournament statistics and match numbers.

Another, "Trash Talk," sees Oscar the Grouch at the center of a satirical recap format focused on the tournament’s more frustrating moments.

Grover also joins FOX broadcasters in a "Broadcaster Bootcamp" series where he learns how to call a soccer match.

FOX Sports said the segments will appear across live telecasts and surrounding programming throughout the tournament window.

The broadcaster will air all 104 matches of the FIFA World Cup 2026 across FOX and FS1, with streaming available in 4K through FOX One.

FOX Sports’ Sesame Street World Cup Push

This collaboration shows how sports media companies are increasingly borrowing from entertainment formats to keep audiences engaged longer between matches and highlights.

Apart from athletes and analysts, FOX is building additional touchpoints that make the tournament feel more approachable to casual viewers and families.

For media brands planning campaigns around global live events, this is a useful example of how expanding audience entry points can widen overall reach:

• Family-focused partnerships can help sports broadcasts attract viewers beyond traditional fan demographics.
• Character-driven segments make long tournaments easier to market across social and digital platforms.
• Entertainment collaborations can create additional sponsor-friendly inventory outside of live match coverage.

This year's World Cup is set to break viewership records, with an estimated 6 billion people engaging with the tournament in some form.

This presents the perfect opportunity for media platforms like FOX Sports to milk visibility and stay competitive amongst challenger platforms. 

Our Take: Does Family Entertainment Have a Space in Sports Broadcasts?

What FOX Sports is doing here is treating the World Cup like summer programming, changing the emotional entry point entirely.

Not everyone understands formations, possession stats, or group-stage math, but almost everyone recognizes Cookie Monster.

That's what makes this campaign genius. 

Live sports continue to fight for household attention now, not just sports attention.

Phones are buzzing, streaming platforms are endless, and younger viewers are growing up inside algorithm-driven feeds.

FOX Sports understands that, and gives you more reason to tune into the broadcast outside of watching your favorite teams compete. 

Recently, the broadcast giant teamed up with Tom Brady, Zlatan Ibrahimović, and more for a spot imagining how a nation would react if the U.S. won the tournament.