{"id":7782,"date":"2026-07-19T10:41:06","date_gmt":"2026-07-19T10:41:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=7782"},"modified":"2026-07-19T10:41:06","modified_gmt":"2026-07-19T10:41:06","slug":"for-50000-they-watched-the-whole-world-cup-in-times-square-was-it-worth-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=7782","title":{"rendered":"For $50,000, they watched the whole World Cup in Times Square. Was it worth it?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n
Kevin Akoto and Austin Franklin quit their day jobs for the temporary gig, which would pay them $50,000 each. (John Sibley\/Reuters)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

NEW YORK \u2014 Among the dreamy wonders of the sports fan is a world where watching games is a job. A land where office chairs transform into overstuffed sectionals, noon kickoffs replace 4 p.m. product meetings. What would one exchange for such a fairy tale?<\/p>

Read more Voters are struggling to keep up with Iran war\u2019s twists and turns<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cNaturally, that seems like the dream, waking up every day and getting paid to watch sports,\u201d Kevin Akoto says on a recent afternoon, separated by less than an inch of plastic from hundreds spectating his every move. \u201cI\u2019d do anything for that.\u201d<\/p>\n

For the largest-in-every-way World Cup in history, millions arrived in the U.S. to traverse the land of Buc-ee\u2019s, Costco and Cheese Whiz<\/a>. The pursuit of the \u201cAmerican experience\u201d became a social media phenomenon for foreigners.<\/p>\n

But perhaps no experience has been more American than that of Akoto and Austin Franklin, who quit their jobs for $50,000 and the opportunity to watch every World Cup game from a clear plastic box in Times Square, creating social content along the way.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo turn down that would be insane,\u201d Franklin says. \u201cI think we both just decided that, you know, we were going to be watching all the games anyway. \u2018Like, how bad can it be?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Their stint is now nearly over. Only Sunday\u2019s final between Argentina and Spain remains. The crowds, the games, the content will be optimal. Yet Akoto and Franklin, like soccer fans around the globe, can hear the clock ticking toward reality.<\/p>\n

Living out this \u201cdream\u201d brought paradoxical experiences. They\u2019re both attached to the attention and opportunity and simultaneously prepared for it all to disappear. The \u201cwork\u201d in its own right has become consuming, which is evident in the moments before England and Argentina\u2019s semifinal match as Franklin and Akoto bounce from task to task, the Times Square crowd swelling outside their walls.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe get a rundown each morning about who we need to talk to,\u201d Franklin says. On this morning, four news outlets are waiting.<\/p>\n

So how long have you all been in here?<\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cUh, I think six weeks,\u201d Franklin, 29, says with a smirk. \u201cIt\u2019s all kind of blurring.\u201d<\/p>\n

Did you quit your jobs for this?<\/i><\/p>\n

They share a look and burst out laughing.<\/p>\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n
Roughly 330,000 people pass through Times Square on any given day. (Evan Bernstein\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

It was sometime in March when Akoto saw the too-good-to-be-true job listing, posted by World Cup broadcaster Fox: A paid position for a fan to spend two months watching every match of the tournament. His finger sprang to the application button.<\/p>\n

Those selected would be required to produce a fire hose of relevant social media content for Fox, Indeed and other sponsors, including plenty of videos interacting with fans in Times Square.<\/p>\n

Akoto, of Jacksonville, Florida, had been a soccer fan since elementary school when his family introduced him to the Ghanaian national team, desperate to keep his heritage alive. He recounts evenings watching the World Cup with his parents in 2010, passionately trying to will his side past the quarterfinals. In the decade-plus since, he\u2019d blossomed into a f\u00fatbol fan deep in \u201cfootball territory.\u201d<\/p>\n

His story, he reasoned, might be interesting enough. But he worried his influencer bona fides might fall short. He operated a relatively active Instagram account but worried that his background, working his way through school at the University of North Florida as a line cook, wasn\u2019t \u201ccontent-creation-y\u201d enough for the mystical, scarcely outlined position.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd two months later, the good folks of Fox Sports called me,\u201d he says. \u201cThen they told me what we were going to have to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

A few years back, Franklin moved to Los Angeles to pursue social media. He\u2019d always been a soccer fan since his parents put him on the pitch in Massachusetts. He\u2019d also grown interested in content creation in the peak late-2010s days of Vine and Twitter, and was animated. That combination made Franklin a natural fit for Fox\u2019s objective.<\/p>\n

This World Cup drew a cumulative global audience of 11.53 billion people globally across the first 96 matches, including an average of 15.6 million on Fox\u2019s networks during the quarterfinals. But social is king, for Fox and other sports media companies. Last summer, ESPN hired Katie Feeney<\/a>, a 22-year-old recent Penn State grad with nearly 8 million TikTok followers, to lead its influencer aspirations. To spark its college sports vertical, Fox blended Barstool Sports<\/a> into its Saturday-morning brand \u201cBig Noon Kickoff,\u201d which now leans on social media content.<\/p>\n

The hope among each is to reach an audience ranging from teens to young parents, who are watching network TV at an all-time low.<\/p>\n

\u201cSports social media content is a rapidly growing field,\u201d Franklin says. Recent studies<\/a> have found that more than half of young adults wish they could be content creators.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is what we both want to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

So they quit their jobs, packed clothes for two months and ventured north.<\/p>\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n
The two spent long days in public view during live play, often from about 10 a.m. until around 2 a.m. (John Sibley\/Reuters)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

The day before the tournament began, the pair moved into the Times Square space with few expectations.<\/p>\n

Then came the details. For all 104 World Cup games, they would spend their time in the public gaze, milling about in a clear, camper-size cube located in the middle of America\u2019s most-walked intersection. They\u2019d have the essentials, but they wouldn\u2019t be allowed to leave or even step out of view when a ball was live.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a fishbowl,\u201d Akoto says. \u201cThat was a little concerning.\u201d<\/p>\n

Their motivator: the money. For each, the 39-day job would earn $50,000 or, roughly $480 per game before taxes.<\/p>\n

The first half of the tournament would be long, with three weeks of four or more games every day, their schedule running from 10 a.m. to around 2 a.m. They\u2019d wander to a hotel a block over, paid for by the sponsors, for a few hours of sleep each night before returning for early-morning content call times.<\/p>

Read more DOGE was supposed to be dead. Its remnants are everywhere.<\/a><\/p>\n

When the games weren\u2019t on, they ate meals that were provided by Fox\u2019s staff, frequently going out to eat with the crew working around them. During the games, their sponsors would roll out a lineup of platters, typically with specific dishes tied to the countries competing in each game.<\/p>\n

Many matches were thrill rides. Others plodded along. To pass the time, the pair started playing games with a pair of mini soccer balls in the room. During MLB All-Star Game promotions, they wound up with a plastic bat, and soon they were using pillows as bases.<\/p>\n

\u201cAny fan thinks they want to watch everything,\u201d he adds, \u201cbut it\u2019s a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n

They\u2019d also have to sprint to the One Times Square building\u2019s revolving door to go to the bathroom on the seventh floor. (Fox, for all its planning, made no prior arrangement for relief.)<\/p>\n

All of this would occur in front of hundreds (if not thousands) at every moment. Roughly 330,000 people pass through Times Square on any given day.<\/p>\n

Yet after weeks, they explain, the performance became robotic. The attention has seemingly disappeared. Or maybe transformed.<\/p>\n

Chairs and circular red coffee tables sit between the One Times Square building and the Nasdaq headquarters, and even when games aren\u2019t visible on the TVs in the box, some New Yorkers lounged around watching Franklin and Akoto\u2019s shenanigans.<\/p>\n

But inside and out of the box, the match is still the primary spectacle. Throughout the tournament, Times Square has become a melting pot of nationalities and fan bases, jersey-clad fans trading chants and jeers. In these moments, Franklin and Akoto\u2019s antics disappear, and if they disrupt the walk-in theater with waving arms or attempts to interact during a match, the reaction can be sharp.<\/p>\n

When England scores first during Wednesday\u2019s semifinal, Franklin, who took to rooting for the Three Lions for the day, stands and turns to the crowd. In response, an Argentina fan from New York boos just as passionately to make him sit as she did for the score itself.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re just kinda obnoxious,\u201d she says later. \u201cI\u2019m not sure I\u2019d do that even for that money.\u201d<\/p>\n

A few minutes after the goal, Franklin pulls out his phone and his red-and-white striped jersey and clicks the red circle.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s up, everyone \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n
The pair was selected from a field of thousands of eager fans after submitting video applications. (John Sibley\/Reuters)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

As England\u2019s grasp on the semifinal releases in the span of two quick punches, Akoto stares, motionless. The crowd roars, dominated by Argentina supporters, fans jumping against one another and tossing jerseys into the air.<\/p>\n

After most close games, the pair have walked out to the onlookers, filming reactions for Fox\u2019s and their own channels. But it\u2019s pouring, the rain pattering against the top of the box, and those who waited for the game to end take off running with the whistle. Franklin and Akoto decide to stay put for a while.<\/p>\n

They arrived hoping to leap further into the rapidly expanding influencer space, Akoto escaping his line-cook job and Franklin looking to grow a social media page dominated by deadpan stand-up videos about trending sports topics. The eyes, uncomfortable at first, have become their lifeblood, a sort of craving.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a leaping-off point for us,\u201d Franklin, giddily, says. \u201cLike you can only imagine what\u2019s next. This has been so big.\u201d<\/p>\n

For some of their relationships, it has been a bit of an adjustment. Franklin has more than 206,000 followers on TikTok, and Akoto trails at 167,000. They\u2019ve spent time with actor Jerry O\u2019Connell, and their faces were plastered on a rotating billboard in the square. They\u2019ve scarcely spoken with friends and family in a month, and those conversations now rarely go a few minutes without navigating back to \u201ccontent\u201d and \u201cviews\u201d and their very temporary day jobs.<\/p>\n

They ventured into the spotlight, drifting from their daily lives. Now, they must return.<\/p>\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n
The \u201cNaked Cowboy\u201d looks on as Franklin and Akoto watch a match between Portugal and Uzbekistan from their transparent cube. (Timothy A. Clary\/AFP\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

\u201cAt this time next week, I don\u2019t know what I\u2019ll be doing,\u201d Akoto says. \u201cThat\u2019s frightening.\u201d<\/p>\n

Franklin buzzed his hair last week to imitate late-2000s David Beckham. Akoto, as he\u2019s told dozens of reporters, no longer has a job. He said he\u2019d call his former employer, though he\u2019s trying to make social media work full-time. With each day, he grows more concerned.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis has definitely changed what I\u2019ll do next,\u201d he says. \u201cI can\u2019t tell you if I want it to end or not.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone asks the question,\u201d Franklin adds. \u201cWhat would you do to get paid to watch sports? I\u2019m still not sure I have an answer.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s pouring now, and Franklin looks out across the darkened square, the emptiest it\u2019s been in nearly 40 days. Then he glances down at his phone, letting out a small sigh, and taps record.<\/p>

Read more With nearly 700 passes and counting, a Spanish star quietly dominated this World Cup<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cSuch an unbelievably bad decision,\u201d the video begins.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A pair quit their day jobs to watch sports under the gaze of Times Square for 39 days. It wore on them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7776,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7782","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nFor $50,000, they watched the whole World Cup in Times Square. Was it worth it? - Moving Insider USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=7782\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"For $50,000, they watched the whole World Cup in Times Square. 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