Kickback Soccer Media Aims to Become Central Hub for Sport

Soccer is one of the most popular sports in the world, but is still grappling to get traction in the U.S.

A group of entrepreneurs aims to change the playing field for the sport with the launch of Kickback Soccer Media, a new platform that aims to grab people who get into the sport via the 2026 World Cup. The new media outlet will consist of three different venues cultivating soccer fans, and has struck an agreement with social-media platform Bluesky that aims to make it the home to U.S. conversations about soccer in advance of the sport’s top event next year.

“There’s never really been a soccer media company in the U.S.,” says John Parker, co founder and CEO of the new company. He attributes that dynamic to the fact that media rights to various leagues are split up among a handful of different media companies, with no central venue dominating coverage of the sport.

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Americans don’t “inherit” a soccer fandom, as they might with baseball or football, Parker says. People tend to “discover the sport in their own unique way.”

Kickback Soccer will operate three different outlets devoted to the sport. Soccerwise offers traditional coverage of men’s and women’s soccer in the U.S. Kickback Committee will a roster of more than a dozen soccer personalities engaging with fans in shows and on social media around topics and trends. First Touch, meanwhile, aims to drive new fans to the sport by distributing original content and spurring engagement. Kickback Soccer says it will earmark 3% of gross revenue to support of initiatives aimed at promoting inclusivity in bringing new fans into the game.

Kickback’s founding team includes David Gass, Tom Bogert, and Jordan Angeli, as well as former CBS Sports host Susannah Fuller; CBS Sports Golazo Network reporter Claudia Pagan; and MLS player Mark-Anthony Kaye.

As part of the company’s agreement with Bluesky, Kickback Soccer will provide exclusive original content and weave references to the social-media outlet into its programs, all part of a bid to promote the social media company as the home of the soccer conversation.

“A big growth opportunity for Bluesky is in sports, and we know the 2026 World Cup will be the biggest sporting event in history,” says Harry Packer, Bluesky’s partnerships lead, in a statement. “Our partnership with Kickback is an innovative collaboration that allows us to reach and engage audiences both on and off platform and ensure that when the World Cup kicks off that everyone is following along on Bluesky.”

Kickback Soccer Media will celebrate its launch with a live show in Austin, Texas, on July 22 at Haymaker, free to all fans.

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