Streaming star iShowSpeed is taking his World Cup content to a new level through a new partnership with FIFA, Fox Sports, and YouTube that will see Speed stream matches from host stadiums and his home studio alongside live match footage, a first for U.S. audiences.
The massively popular live-streamer, known for his passion for soccer and love for the Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo, has brought his IRL (short for in-real-life) livestreams to World Cup matches since the 2022 Qatar tournament. Now, Speed will have rights to display valuable game feeds for his audience while he tours stadiums and, in some cases, hosts from his desktop setup.
For American fans, Speed’s simulcasts will appear on the Fox One Prime Channel on YouTube as well as the Fox One streaming service, according to Fox. Fans outside the U.S. are expected to access the streams through Speed’s YouTube channel, as usual. Per Fox, American audiences can still watch Speed on his personal YouTube channel as well during these matches, but will not be able to see the game feed.
“You guys are going to be able to watch some of the World Cup games right here on my stream,” Speed (real name Darren Watkins Jr.) announced Wednesday on his YouTube stream. “Fans have always wanted to watch the sports games with creators like me. I want to keep pushing the boundaries of streaming. I want to help out all creators and be able to do something in the future that has never been done before.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sWv85pQOmw
The schedule for the group stage simulcasts is as follows:
June 22: Argentina vs. Austria in Dallas
June 26: Norway vs. France in Boston
June 27: Colombia vs. Portugal in Miami
Fox also announced that Speed would stream the semifinal matches and final next month, as well as select knockout-round matches to be announced later.
The partnership is a groundbreaking one as sports leagues look to reach younger fans who consume sports outside traditional television or even subscription streaming platforms. Industry leaders have long expected a body like FIFA to develop carve-outs for content creators. Speed hosted a simulcast of YouTube’s Week 1 NFL broadcast last fall. And this year in Brazil, the popular live-streamer CaséTV is the exclusive distributor for many World Cup matches. Rather than wait until the next tournament, when a new broadcaster could take over U.S. distribution of the World Cup, Fox, FIFA, and YouTube assembled a creative model to reach these fans, fronted by one of the most popular online personalities in the world.
Numbers for Speed’s World Cup broadcasts this week have been strong; the 9.2 million viewers he drew for Portugal’s opener on Wednesday is likely to outperform the audience from Fox’s broadcast television network.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.