UF students win national FOX Sports University World Cup advertising competition
A team of UF College of Journalism and Communications undergraduate and graduate students won the national World Cup competition for FOX Sports and FOX Sports University.
The competition pitted teams from 20 schools from across the U.S. against each other to create the best promotional campaign to build hype for the World Cup and to grow brand awareness for FOX Sports and their nonprofit partner, the Boys & Girls Clubs of America.
Robyn Goodman, an associate professor of Advertising had her students enter the competition as part of her Creative Sports Advertising class. The winning team, named The Starting Lineup, included graduate students Jennica Clerveaux, Mia Chacon and Cerys Jack and undergraduate students Jayde Fernandez-Curry and Jake Haskin. Jack also served as the team’s leader.
To create their campaign, the students conducted in-depth research on local and nationwide consumption habits among both viewers and non-viewers of the World Cup and FOX network. They focused their local research on Miami, their designated host city. Using this information, the team created three social media campaigns, three influencer campaigns, one television commercial and three campaign activations. They also created a plan to host watch parties, created branded merchandise and planned an experiential space at FIFA Fan Festivals to promote the Boys and Girls Clubs of America.
After working on all this over the course of their Spring 2026 semester, they presented their plans to FOX Sports executives in April. The panel included Cati Hance, the senior manager of strategic partnerships and Eric Esteban, the vice president of media relations and a CJC alum. Esteban would later recuse himself during the competition’s voting phase, unable to vote against his alma mater.
To celebrate their win, FOX Sports University has offered to fly the winning team out to Los Angeles during the first week of July, where they will be given a studio tour and tickets to a World Cup match at Los Angeles Stadium.
Category: College News
Tagged: FOX Sports University Robyn Goodman Student Awards World Cup
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