Featured Image Credit: Sebastian Frej / Contributor via Getty
This year's World Cup has been a big tournament for Darren "IShowSpeed" Watkins Jr., as the global streaming phenomenon isn't just performing during the final's closing ceremony, but he was also reportedly paid upwards of $25 million by FIFA directly to broadcast his time at football's biggest event.
IShowSpeed only started liking football just a few short years ago, yet he has become one of the sport's biggest social media stars alongside countless globetrotting adventures shared on his YouTube channel.
What was born from an initial obsession with Cristiano Ronaldo quickly evolved into a devotion to the sport, and that naturally made him a prime candidate for this year's World Cup as it returned to his home, the United States.
Speed has been active at many of the tournament's games, meeting sporting icons and even major political figures like New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani during the matches, yet he's not just there for the love of the game as he signed a lucrative deal with both FIFA and FOX to stream the games.
As reported by Awful Announcing, the streaming sensation signed a deal with FOX to complete simulcasts of the World Cup which will appear on his own YouTube channel, alongside the Fox One channel and streaming service.
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While the official figure has not been confirmed by either party, rumors surrounding the deal speculate that it is worth upwards of $25 million, with some wondering if that jaw-dropping figure is how much Speed is pulling in every single day.
Considering the fact that the World Cup is a month-long tournament and Speed has attended as many games as he can, there's a good chance that he's made a lot of money from the deal — which is especially great as he would have likely attended the matches anyway.
Addressing the deal he made with FIFA, Speed proclaimed: "Fans have always wanted to watch the sports games with creators like me. I want to keep pushing the boundaries of streaming.
"I want to help out all creators and be able to do something in the future that has never been done before," he added.
Fans of the streamer were surprised yet excited to learn that IShowSpeed will be performing his World Cup song, 'World Cup (Champions)', at the tournament's closing ceremony before the final on Sunday, July 19.
The ceremony will begin at 1:30 p.m. EDT at the MetLife Stadium, which works out to 6:30 p.m. BST and 10:30 a.m. PDT, and is expected to last for around an hour and a half before the final kicks off at 3 p.m. local time.
Speed will be joined by a number of global superstars as part of the ceremony, with Tom Cruise, Laura Pausini, Nicole Scherzinger, and Robbie Williams accompanying the streamer in the festivities.
People wanting to watch the World Cup final can tune in to either BBC or ITV in the UK, or FOX in the United States, and you'll be joined by billions across the world to see who emerges victorious on arguably sport's biggest stage.
If it's anything like the 2022 final – which saw France and Argentina go to penalties after a hectic 120 minutes of football, with the latter emerging victorious – then we're definitely in for a wild ride, and you won't want to miss a single minute — especially if you're supporting one of the two teams involved.
