How Brands Can Win The World Cup with Rio Ferdinand, Homeground's Rachid Ahoyek and YouTube's Joshua Wayoe

About this episode

Experts discuss strategies for brands to effectively engage with audiences during the World Cup.

With this Summer's World Cup set to be the noisiest ever, we gathered an expert panel for our recent 'Never Mind the Cliches' event to help brands cut through the noise and make the most of the biggest World Cup ever. With Iconic's James Kirkham moderating, we were joined by England legend and media pioneer Rio Ferdinand, Homeground CEO Rachid Ahoyek, and strategic partner manager for YouTube, Joshua Wayoe. Between them, they covered... What it's like playing at a World Cup and handling the media The marketing cliches to avoid How fans will be consuming the World Cup Going beyond second-screening Working with athletes What fans are really watching on YouTube And much more! This podcast is in partnership with LIONS Sport, taking place June 24th and 25th at Cannes Lions. The new global forum celebrates the power of sports marketing and the business of competition. The programme is now live – featuring the world’s most competitive brands and the people behind them. ⁠ Find out more ⁠.

People in this episode

Host: James Kirkham

Guests: Rio Ferdinand, Rachid Ahoyek, Joshua Wayoe

Topics covered

• World Cup marketing
• sports branding
• fan engagement
• media strategies
• YouTube content
• athlete collaboration

Keywords

• World Cup
• sports marketing
• fan consumption
• media handling
• YouTube strategies
• athlete marketing

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Homeground, YouTube, LIONS Sport

Places: Cannes Lions

More episodes of The Footballco Business Podcast

• US Soccer - World Cup 2026: Kits, Culture, and Defining World Cup Success with CMO Catherine Newman · June 10, 2026 · 35 min
• Inside LaLiga's growth in America with Nicolas Garcia Hemme, Managing Director for LALIGA North America. · May 19, 2026 · 39 min
• Behind the 2026 World Cup Hospitality Experience with On Location's Paul Caine · May 14, 2026 · 39 min
• Creativity in Football & LION Sport at Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity Preview with Kenny Annan-Jonathan · April 23, 2026 · 38 min
• How BBC Sport will Broadcast the World Cup with dock10 - Recorded live at the Broadcast Sport Content Summit · April 8, 2026 · 34 min
• Adebayo Akinfenwa - The strongest man in football on creating a player brand in the EFL and launching his own podcast · March 26, 2026 · 35 min