Footballco’s World Cup Reviewed by Press Gazette as Group Performance Beats Qatar 2022
Data shared by Footballco with Press Gazette shows that page views across the company’s portfolio reached 1bn during the 2026 World Cup, with GOAL page views up 55 per cent compared to the 2022 tournament and traffic across the portfolio up on 2022 figures.
The detailed analysis by Press Gazette covers Footballco’s performance across web, app and social media and covers the company’s revenue diversification, which saw growth across branded content and affiliate:
“Last year Footballco made revenue of £55m (up 13% year on year) as it diversified away from a reliance on display and programmatic advertising.
That traditional online ad revenue was down 12% to £18.2m while branded content and campaigns were up 39% to £26.2m (overtaking display and programmatic ads for the first time) and affiliate revenue grew by 21% to £10.2m.
Affiliate growth has continued so far this year: the publisher told Press Gazette revenue from affiliate content will deliver more than $12.6m (£9.3m) in the first half of 2026, up 23% compared to 2025. More than $2.5m (£1.9m) of that was during the World Cup.
Last year Footballco made revenue of £55m (up 13% year on year) as it diversified away from a reliance on display and programmatic advertising.
That traditional online ad revenue was down 12% to £18.2m while branded content and campaigns were up 39% to £26.2m (overtaking display and programmatic ads for the first time) and affiliate revenue grew by 21% to £10.2m.
Affiliate growth has continued so far this year: the publisher told Press Gazette revenue from affiliate content will deliver more than $12.6m (£9.3m) in the first half of 2026, up 23% compared to 2025. More than $2.5m (£1.9m) of that was during the World Cup.”
The feature also points towards Footballco’s success in the U.S., following significant investment in market:
“Comscore figures seen by Press Gazette, the Footballco portfolio beat The Athletic and ESPNFC for US users during the tournament.”
Footballco’s portfolio also performed strongly across social media, as referenced:
“Across social media, Footballco saw seven billion total views across its content during the World Cup, of which 3.6 billion came from Goal and Kooora contributed 2.2 billion views.
The rest were spread across personality-led and athlete-driven shows such as Beast Mode On podcast, The Late Run and Goal’s Front Three. Delgado said last year these were a “growth lever” bringing in sponsorship revenue in which Footballco was investing.
Most of Footballco’s World Cup social views were on Meta platforms Facebook and Instagram, which drove 5.8 billion views. Tiktok drove 444 million and Youtube contributed 282 million.”
