After scoring a “home run” with CBS Sports as a studio analyst, “Deuce” is moving up to the big time. In an announcement by FOX Corp today, Clint Dempsey joins FOX Sports as part of its coverage of FIFA World Cup 2022.
Previously, Dempsey was a main feature of CBS Sports’ CONCACAF Today. CBS gave Dempsey the opportunity to appear in front of the camera at a time when there were question marks whether he would succeed on TV. Despite some initial missteps, Dempsey quickly became comfortable in the position partly due to the chemistry CBS built, working alongside Charlie Davies, Oguchi Onyewu, and host Kate Abdo.
CBS’s loss will be FOX’s gain. Dempsey won’t be exclusive to CBS any longer.
Looking ahead to World Cup 2022, Dempsey will be a vital cog in FOX’s coverage. After all, the former US Men’s National Team star can speak first hand about the last time USA played England in a World Cup. Drawing on his experience and his tendency to have fun on camera, Dempsey should fit in well with FOX’s all-American coverage.
Recently elected to the National Soccer Hall of Fame, Dempsey will continue to work for CBS Sports in its coverage of CONCACAF games — just like Maurice Edu appears on both FOX Sports and CBS Sports’ soccer coverage.
FOX’s World Cup coverage plans
FOX’s coverage of the World Cup will feature several major games across the over-the-air FOX network. Every USA game will air on the FOX network. Other than that, there are some changes compared to how FOX Sports televised the previous World Cup.
Unfortunately, FOX Sports’ conflicts with NFL and college football programming means that there’ll be fewer games on FOX. For the 2018 World Cup in Russia, FOX Sports aired 38 games on its over-the-air FOX Network. In contrast, the number has been reduced by three to 35 for World Cup 2022. Those three games will be on FS1 instead for a total of 29 games on that channel. FIFA’s decision to reschedule the Qatar 2022 from summer to winter certainly didn’t help matters.
Major games at World Cup 2022
Elsewhere, FIFA’s decision to showcase a lot of the major games in the 2PM-4PM ET time slot helps. Every single day, there is a mammoth game scheduled in the 2-4PM ET time slot of the FOX Sports World Cup schedule. Some of those games include:
USA vs. Ukraine, Scotland or Wales, Nov. 21
Brazil vs. Serbia, Nov. 24
England vs. USA, Nov. 25
Argentina vs. Mexico, Nov. 26
Spain vs. Germany, Nov. 27
Portugal vs. Uruguay, Nov. 28
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