FSV Celebrates third year with new partners, record revenue, subscriber growth and uniting some of the most influential platforms in American Soccer, all tied to brands, players, fan engagement and expansive storytelling
For Soccer Ventures (FSV) is one of the influential, independent media and experience platforms behind American soccer and 2023 looks to be another stellar year for record growth. With the onboarding of new partnerships, an emphasis on the FIFA Women’s World Cup and the debut of the Leagues Cup, their assortment of storytelling company’s are ready to further increase revenue, add to their subscriber numbers, and continue uniting the proud fanbase across the United States. The Sports Techie community blog has covered stories about FSV ranging from Philadelphia to Los Angeles about grassroots programs, the communities they effect, and their expanding partnerships with well-known global brands. Australia and New Zealand are co-hosts of the upcoming Women’s World Cup then in 2026, the U.S. along with Canada and Mexico are co-hosting the FIFA Men’s World Cup giving FSV properties with major and smaller events to help grow American soccer to new heights.
“While the just completed FIFA Men’s World Cup certainly helped raise awareness and engagement for soccer, it was just the culmination of a year where we saw partnerships soar everywhere from grassroots, to community impact and media, to brand engagement,” said Heath Pearce, President, FSV.
2023 And Beyond
FSV has seen a 600% increase in revenue since the pandemic. Today, they employ 40 full-time employees, up from just eight in 2020. During 2022, FSV has focused on expanding partnerships with some of the top global brands such as adidas, Pepsi, Lays, Verizon, CBS Sports/Paramount+, Telemundo, Allstate, Soccer.com, BodyArmor, Ford, Topps, Umbro, Chevron and CVS, through services you can read more about at https://www.forsoccer.com/.
Pearce added, “2023 is shaping up to be an epic year for soccer across North America with the FIFA Women’s World Cup and the debut of the Leagues Cup – which will feature all of the clubs from MLS and Liga MX in a completely reimagined, month-long, World Cup style tournament.” “As brands and platforms look to engage soccer fans, players, families and communities across North America, FSV is poised to deliver the most authentic media and marketing solutions in the market today.”
Some highlights:
- The Black Star Initiative, a platform accelerating the growth and popularity of soccer in Black American communities, continued its expansion, celebrating Black soccer culture, building community, and providing players and coaches access to soccer development pathways through its free Community Pick Up, First-Touch Youth Clinic, Girls and Boys ID Showcase, and U.S. Soccer Coach for Community – Coaching Clinic events. Paramount+ was presenting sponsor for all Black Star events in cities ranging from Detroit and Washington, DC to Los Angeles and Houston.
- FSV teamed up with BodyArmor for their MLS All-Star Activation, providing a free soccer clinic for underserved communities in Minneapolis and also an influencer led soccer tournament (“Community Cup”), including Minnesota Aurora FC goalkeeper Sarah Fuller.
- FSV Extended partnerships to support Paramount+’s growing soccer portfolio in the US, Mexico and across Latin America .
- Alianza de Futbol, which FSV acquired in 2020, continued its own meteoric growth, overcoming the pause caused by the Covid 19 pandemic which kept thousands of soccer fans in the Hispanic community away from the fields for over a year. This year, the tour visited ten different cities prior to the National Finals: Phoenix, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, San José, El Paso and Austin. One of the 2022 tour record figures was accomplished in Houston, where all tournaments were sold out and at capacity, with more than 34,000 fans and upwards of 2,000 participating players in attendance.
- FSV extended its partnership with Allstate and “Allstate Sueno Alianza” which gives thousands of players the opportunity to be scouted by professional and national teams as well as colleges and universities.
- The company built out an extensive multilingual influencer activation with FIFA World Cup broadcaster Telemundo to increase awareness for their talent and platform during the games in Qatar.
- On the media side, FSV signed a strategic partnership with Men in Blazers to represent their iconic brand and continued to build on partnerships with Umbro, Topps, and adidas.
- On the community and grassroots side, FSV continued to build on its partnership with Chevron and launched a new program with CVS Health.
- FSV launched the Association – an experiential soccer league celebrating the sport, culture, and people that make the game vibrant. The 2022 installment (presented by BodyArmor) featured teams from CAA, Sony, Religion Of Sports, 424, The Shoe Surgeon, Winston House, AEG, Immortals FC, the American Outlaws, and Google.
- In collaboration with Pepsico, The Team of Champions Platform (entering its third year) is now supporting over 15,000 players – giving black, Hispanic and female clubs around the country financial resources to make soccer fields and equipment more accessible and tournaments/league fees more affordable.
- The ACCESS U Foundation – a non-profit organization that mentors underserved Hispanic and Black players and their families about the college pathway, including collegiate athletic scholarship opportunities and the college recruiting process to help them achieve their educational goals is supporting more than 70 players in their college recruitment and mentorship process.
- The Soccer Collective, FSV’s owned and operated network of social media accounts, surpassed 2.6 million followers across 10 social brands. The Collective’s broader creator community, featuring partners like Men In Blazers, ThisWeekInMLS, and USMNTOnly, contributed to best-in-class influencer campaigns for a range of partners, including Paramount+, Topps, Telemundo, Umbro, and more.
- On the Original Content side, FSV’s “Orange Slices,” a podcast hosted by former U.S. Men’s National Team player and Major League Soccer All-Star Heath Pearce and 22-year-old emerging U.S. international Mark McKenzie celebrate the past, present, and future of American soccer through generational storytelling and unprecedented access to rising U.S. stars around the world. Recent guests have included the likes of current US Men’s National Team players – Timothy Weah, Brendan Aaronson, Tyler Adams and Yunus Musah. As well as USMNT legend Tim Howard.
Sports Techie, as a parent to a special needs kid, noticeably absent is a FSV program dedicated to boys, girls and adults across the nation with disabilities that want to be more involved with the sport of soccer. Perhaps 2023 is the year for this kind of FSV activation and accompanying sponsorship by a like-minded company.
Here is to another soccer-centric year to all our readers and followers.
Keep FSV in mind next year because they are growing, expanding partnerships and making a notable difference with American youth soccer, especially in underprivileged communities.
See you later sportstechie in Seattle, Atlanta and around the world!
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