Podcast: Everything you need to know about partnering with creators at the World Cup

NewGen CEO Mike Craddock joined the latest episode of the Broadcast Sport Podcast to give his advice to brands and agencies ahead of the 2026 World Cup. 

As well as covering how to select the right creator and type of content for your brand, the impact of Donald Trump and political instability in the US on operating in the country, the imapct of AI on branded content, and more, Craddock also made a number of predictions for what will take place across the US, Canada and Mexico this summer. 

You can listen to the res of the conversation below, or subscribe to the Broadcast Sport Podcast on all major podcast platforms. 

Among those is the continued rise in AI-generated content and the ubiquitousness of vertical video across digital video platforms such as YouTube and TikTok. 

“I think there’ll be more AI generated content than ever before,” Craddock said. “There’ll be a lot of user-generated AI content, whether that is live interactions and moments or just enhancing what they’re doing.

“Last time we had a world cup that wasn’t possible.”

In addition, “Vertical video is going to be absolutely dominant, and second screening as well. There’s so much more second screening, especially with a younger audience. That’s really important for messaging. It’s very simple but as soon as halftime happens you’re interacting with people.

“Especially in the US, with sport betting, fantasy football, etc.”

There are also opportunities for larger brands to lean in to the competition and the rivalries it brings up. “I think there are going to be more global campaigns, or I hope so,” Craddock said. “I really like seeing, let’s say it’s Pepsi and we’re playing Croatia, and Pepsi UK’s channel are interacting with Pepsi Croatia. It’s just friendly interaction and friendly banter, but the audience can see that and there aren’t many moments like the World Cup that can bring that interaction and make it actually relevant.”

However, Craddock’s main prediction is that creator-centric content will be more prevalent than ever before, and that brands will be leaning into the phenomenon. “I think there’s going to be a lot of gifting. There’s a lot of creators who are going to be out at a lot of these games, cameras are going to be panning to them regularly and there’s going to be a lot of the sponsors inviting these creators for those experiences.”

To hear about how you can best take advantage of this, listen to the full episode below or subscribe to the Broadcast Sport Podcast on all major podcast platforms.