Footballco’s first CEO for North America is enjoying the “luxury” of setting up a “really big, massive important business” in time for the FIFA World Cup being held in the US, Canada and Mexico in 2026. Jason Wagenheim said the “North Star” of the newly-stepped up business is to be “the most definitive, important soccer media platform in the US come 2026” via its flagship brand Goal and women’s brand Indivisa. Footballco saw an untapped opportunity to cover the American game including Major League Soccer, USL Championship, National Women’s Soccer League, the US national teams, and American players in the UK and Europe like Nottingham Forest goalkeeper Matt Turner.
The Copa America is being held in the US for only the second time this month and Wagenheim described it as a “great dress rehearsal” for the World Cup. Speaking to Press Gazette’s Future of Media Explained podcast, Wagenheim said Footballco has had a “great four-year run” under its current owners TPG Capital “but there hadn’t been any investment in the US market yet”. “There was really no soccer-only media platform in the States that was covering the game at the depth that Goal covers soccer globally,” he said.
“And that in itself is, I think, where the opportunity really exists. “There was no revenue last year, there was no team, but we still reached 30 million people in the United States without even turning the lights on, or having any meaningful boots on the ground. .
