The round of 32 is streaming today on 200 LinkNYC kiosks across all five boroughs, part of a city program that has been broadcasting select World Cup matches for free on street-level screens since June 19, according to a press release from Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s office.
The kiosk streams are Spanish-language, produced through a partnership between the city and Telemundo, which holds the Spanish-language broadcast rights for the tournament in the United States. The program targets New Yorkers who watch soccer in Spanish and might catch a match while commuting, on a lunch break, or without a TV at home, per the press release.
Mamdani said in the press release: “New York is a city of sidewalks as much as it is stadiums, and this summer the World Cup belongs to both. You shouldn’t need a ticket to MetLife to feel connected to the world’s game.”
Twenty of the 200 kiosks are also getting custom World Cup-themed branding, according to ForumDaily. Claudia Chagui, executive vice president of marketing at NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises, described the partnership in the press release as a way to bring “the World Cup directly into neighborhoods across the city,” calling it “a cultural moment that brings people together across communities, generations, and backgrounds.”
Matches already streamed include the June 19 USA-Australia opener and the June 26 Norway-France game, according to ForumDaily’s reporting on the city’s broadcast schedule. The quarterfinal is set for July 10, with the final on July 19.
The LinkNYC program is one of several city initiatives for the tournament. In an email to press, Hamaad Najam, Deputy Press Secretary at the Mayor’s Office, also flagged 24/7 pickup soccer fields available nightly in each borough through July 18, a Whitney Museum poster program that grants free museum admission, and neighborhood watch parties at locations including Essex Market and Moore Street Market running through mid-July.
Featured image: Bushwick Daily archive
