Creating Space for Soccer

By Ryan Briganti , SVP, Sales, Sports

We are in a new age of soccer.

The U.S. has at long last joined the global fútbol party with moments like Messi mania, equal pay for male and female players, reality shows around professional teams, and club investments from celebrities, pro athletes, and American business leaders alike. Decades of grassroots efforts are paying off, and American audiences are tuning in. Soccer fans have more access to watch more games than ever before.

With more than 80% of soccer fans either currently playing or having played organized or casual pickup, the fandom pipeline is strong. Youth participation continues to increase with every generation of kinder kickers, and Gen Z is the first generation to indicate a majority interest in soccer.

For me, it was participating in a classic 1980s youth soccer program where the Indiana terrain was ideal for building soccer fields, which in turn helped strengthen our local community.

For Paramount, it started in 2020 when CBS Sports made the strategic decision to invest in a sport that both supports our streaming initiatives and diversifies our already superior sports portfolio. And it’s working. CBS Sports has added upwards of 20 leagues and competitions from four continents, with over 2,500 live matches that air across our portfolio on Paramount+, The CBS Television Network, CBS Sports Network, and CBS Sports Golazo! Network.

American soccer fans are young and diverse, and many are new to the sport with nearly 50% being a fan for fewer than 10 years. This audience of early adopters with a multicultural view of the world is exactly who we had in mind when launching the FAST channel?CBS Sports Golazo Network ?last April. This 24/7 streaming network dedicated solely to covering soccer around the world has already doubled its audience since its launch.

Whether you were born into it, or your love for the U.S. National Teams has grown over time, most American soccer enthusiasts feel an innate responsibility to grow the game. The same holds true for the many soccer supporters who work at Paramount—this passionate group has been instrumental in our immediate success.

With the expansion and acquisition of rights, CBS Sports is once again shaping American sports culture by delivering best-in-class storytelling, and studio coverage across our family of broadcast, streaming, cable, social, creator, podcasts, and AVOD/FAST channels.

• Our Champions League coverage has quickly gained international notoriety as World Soccer Talk says: “The studio coverage of Champions League Today is rapidly becoming must-see TV for American audiences.”

• Calcio e Cappuccino transports the American audience to an authentic “Made in Italy” cultural experience thoroughly covering Lega Serie A.
• Our new multiplatform rights extension with the National Women's Soccer League, which just averaged 800K viewers during the 2023 Championship game (the second most-watched NWSL match ever), continues to grow the women’s game and celebrate championships in primetime on CBS and Paramount+.

As we look ahead, fandom will grow, and soccer headlines will continue as the U.S. plays host to an amazing stretch of major international soccer events for at least four of the next five summers!

Soccer, calcio, football or fútbol…the content we are producing, the energy we are generating, and the engagement we are having with these young, connected fans of the global game is incredibly rewarding and powerful, and is here to stay.