The starting lineup for Mexico for the game against Cuba at the Rose Bowl on June 15, 2019. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images)
CONCACAF has expanded this summer’s Gold Cup to 16 teams, staged matches outside North America for the first time, and enhanced its digital offerings to make the competition more accessible for fans unable to attend.
The tournament started last Saturday and the U.S. played its first game on Tuesday night—winning 4-0 against Guyana. Stats, highlights, and news are available via the CONCACAF Gold Cup app. The federation is also producing interactive and behind the scenes content to enhance the experience.
“CONCACAF’s mission is to continue growing the sport of soccer. In this tournament, we’re trying to engage fans in newer and better ways,” said CONCACAF general secretary Philippe Moggio, before adding: “We want to be where that audience is. We want to be engaging them through different digital platforms and social media.”
Fox Sports is the broadcast partner in the U.S., but overall, the Gold Cup is available in 35 languages across 180 countries. In regions with no linear provider, fans can stream the matches through CONCACAF Go.
CONCACAF’s headquarters are in Miami, and Moggio said he has been in contact with executives from U.S. Soccer, MLS, and Soccer United Marketing. MLS has attracted a young, digital-savvy fan base, and CONCACAF wants to build on those efforts to promote the sport at a national team level. In addition to match-centric highlights, video content is being posted to Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram to showcase “how fans are celebrating the diversity of our region and the pride of their country,” Moggio said.
While the Gold Cup is the major biannual tournament for the Caribbean, North, and Central American federation, CONCACAF also sponsors the Nations League, a yearlong competition among national teams. Broadcast rights for that competition were acquired by FloSports, which also has local broadcast deals with MLS clubs D.C. United and FC Cincinnati on its FloFC network.
“We believe we’re going to be able to create a very strong base of fans for that competition within the FloSports platform,” Moggio said. “We’re incredibly excited about having a new partner like that get significantly committed behind the sport, and that’s an example of an initiative, from a digital standpoint, that is going to help us grow our sport in the region.”
Moggio took over the scandal-ridden CONCACAF in 2016 after spending the previous six years as an SVP at the NBA, serving as the basketball organization’s managing director of Latin America. His NBA tenure has helped inform his thoughts on “how to partner with the right partners to come up with innovative fans of engaging fans,” he said. Moggio is also a former professional tennis player with several years of experience in the financial industry.
This Gold Cup and its subsequent editions in 2021, 2023, and 2025 are all part of the prelude to the 2026 World Cup that is being hosted by the U.S., Mexico, and Canada. The 2026 edition will be the first with the expanded 48-team format, and CONCACAF will receive a total of six slots. The three host countries are expected to be given guaranteed entries into the tournament, though the exact details of that have not been finalized. Bolstering fan interest and revenue to support more teams could help improve the competitive level of the other qualifiers.
