![\"Austin](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/c1_6132462.jpg\")
<\/p>\nPUBLISHED : 24 Jun 2026 at 07:45<\/p>\n
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\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAustin Franklin (right) and Kevin Akoto have a dream job: Getting paid to watch all 104 games of the World Cup in a cube-like studio in the heart of New York’s Times Square. (Photo: AFP)\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
NEW YORK – It might just be the greatest job in the world.<\/p>\n
But for the two American men being paid US$50,000 to watch every one of the 104 games of the World Cup over 39 days, it is a labour of love.<\/p>\n
Austin Franklin, 29, and Kevin Akoto, 26, perform their dream task in a temporary fishbowl studio with glass walls on three sides in the heart of Manhattan’s Times Square.<\/p>\n
Enthusiastic fans crowd around the cube to watch the games on two 85-inch TVs as Franklin and Akoto lounge on sofas inside.<\/p>\n
Akoto quit his job and broke up with his partner to take up the “chief World Cup watcher” role, meant to generate excitement around the once-every-four-years event being hosted by the US, Canada and Mexico.<\/p>\n
“The employer took it well, the individual not so well, but that’s okay,” Akoto said on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
“There’s obviously some games that are duds — that’s gonna happen, obviously, but you have your exciting games as well,” said Akoto, who hails from Florida.<\/p>\n
The pair are paid by Fox, one of the tournament’s broadcasters, which selected them from a field of thousands of fans who submitted video applications.<\/p>\n
The rectangular studio also has a foosball table, a small table and stools, an astroturf rug and walls adorned with the colorful scarves of national teams.<\/p>\n
The high-profile gig has thrown up memorable moments for the pair, including a crowd of hundreds of Brazil fans crowding the plaza in front of their box. One woman threw a shoe at their enclosure.<\/p>\n
“The Brazil fans were just incredible, happy, good vibes — a good time,” Franklin said. “That’s just a memory I’ll have with me for the rest of my life.”<\/p>\n
Akoto, who sported a Portugal cap for the side’s clash against Uzbekistan on Tuesday, had built a “CR7” Cristiano Ronaldo Lego set.<\/p>\n
“Finally on the board — what a strike!” he exclaimed as the Portuguese forward scored the first of two goals in a 5-0 win.<\/p>\n
Despite their grueling viewing schedule, the pair insist they are not tired of spending time together.<\/p>\n
“I’m a pretty negative person,” Akoto said. “It’s nice to have someone positive, someone who’s like a little bit different from you, who can bring that energy,” said Akoto of his new colleague.<\/p>\n
Should the hydration breaks, video reviews or half-time shows lag, the cube has been equipped with distractions including an Ultimate Football Quiz and a deck of Uno cards.<\/p>\n
Franklin, from Massachusetts, said he was “really excited to have two games on at once,” at the end of the group stage when two matches happen simultaneously.<\/p>\n
“There is a certain energy around having a World Cup in your country,” he said. “And who knows, we’ll see what the United States can do here.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PUBLISHED : 24 Jun 2026 at 07:45 Austin Franklin (right) and Kevin Akoto have a dream job: Getting…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":508346,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[206979,8316,155561,85,46,233510,105,186942,49424,101640,233511],"class_list":["post-508345","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-fan-experience","tag-fifa-world-cup","tag-fox-sports","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-soccer-tournament","tag-sports","tag-sports-broadcasting","tag-times-square","tag-world-cup-2026","tag-world-cup-jobs"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/508345","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=508345"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/508345\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/508346"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=508345"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=508345"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=508345"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}