A staple of soccer coverage in the United States will be joining Fox for the upcoming World Cup.
Rebecca Lowe, the lead Premier League studio host for NBC Sports in the U.S., will reportedly join Fox Sports’ World Cup coverage in that same role next year, according to Andrew Marchand in The Athletic. Lowe has hosted Premier League coverage on NBC for 12 years, and will continue with the company in a full-time capacity while adding the World Cup assignment next summer. Per Marchand, Fox had to seek permission from NBC to acquire Lowe’s services for the tournament.
Rob Stone will remain the lead studio host for Fox’s soccer coverage while Lowe runs point on a secondary studio team. Stone has held that role for Fox during nearly every major international soccer competition on the network since the 2015 Women’s World Cup. He, of course, also hosts Fox’s marquee college football pregame show Big Noon Kickoff.
Rebecca Lowe will presumably replace the role formerly held by Kate Scott (née Abdo), who recently signed an exclusive contract with CBS Sports to continue as lead presenter of the network’s UEFA Champions League coverage in the U.S.
Fox has not yet announced its full broadcast plans and announcing pairs for next year’s World Cup, though one can presume it’ll look similar to past iterations of the men’s tournament.
The World Cup Draw is set to take place this Friday, at which point the U.S. Men’s National Team will find out what teams it will play during the group stage next June. Fox will air extensive coverage of the proceedings beginning at 11:30 a.m. ET, with over three hours of programming planned for the event.
Fox has already announced the 2026 World Cup will be the “biggest production” in the network’s history. It is the first year in which the event will feature 48 teams, up from 32 in previous iterations. As such, Fox will air a record 69 matches on its broadcast network, with an additional 35 slated for FS1.