ESPN is the US television and multimedia network entirely dedicated to sport, and part of The Walt Disney Company.
Ahead of the FIFA World Cup 2026, Seed partnered with ESPN to develop and implement the SEO strategy for its football section in the UK market. The goal was to maximise organic visibility during one of the most-watched sporting events in the world. That meant anticipating search demand before the tournament and meeting users’ needs in real time as the competition unfolded.
CHALLENGES
Competitive market
Sports search in the UK has long been dominated by players such as BBC and Sky Sports.
Shifting interests
Users’ information needs change at every stage of the tournament, so the strategy had to evolve with them.
Timing of demand
Search demand starts growing weeks before the event, rising by at least 50% about a month before kick-off.
Low Share of Voice
In April 2026, ESPN ranked 5th with a 4% share, against 24% for FIFA, 22% for Wikipedia and 12% for BBC.
GOALS
Anticipate demand
Capture rising search interest before the tournament began.
Organic visibility
Maximise SERP presence throughout the 2026 World Cup.
Real-time coverage
Fill the information gaps left by competitors during matches.
Sustained growth
Consolidate visibility beyond the end of the World Cup.
The SEO strategy for ESPN was built around three phases: Before, During and After, following the evolution of search demand. It combined historical and predictive analysis, keyword research, competitive analysis, content strategy and continuous trend monitoring.
We started by analysing a cluster of more than 20,000 keywords and comparing data from the previous World Cup. The aim was to understand when demand would emerge and which topics would drive it.
Before: anticipating demand. We identified a high-volume, low-competition opportunity around World Cup predictions.
During: filling information gaps. Throughout the tournament we analysed search behaviour in real time. We introduced live blogs, predicted line-up pages and an entire section dedicated to referees, so ESPN could own even the most specific searches.
After: turning visibility into growth. As user interest shifted towards player stats, awards and the transfer market, we led the move into the Transfers cluster, historically dominated by Sky Sports.
ONGOING ACTIVITIES
- Search trend monitoring
- Competitor information-gap analysis
- Live blogs covering every match
ONE-OFF ACTIVITIES
- Historical and predictive analysis (20,000+ keywords)
- Predictions gateway page
- Predicted Line-ups, Referees and Transfers sections
FOCUS: THE GATEWAY PAGE
Our historical analysis revealed a high-volume, low-competition opportunity: World Cup predictions. Seed built an optimised gateway page to capture this demand before the tournament and channel users towards ESPN’s content.
The page achieved a 10.3% CTR, generating over 200,000 clicks.
A strategy built around each phase of the tournament delivered record-breaking performance for ESPN’s football section between 11 June and 19 July 2026.
Chart: Visibility Index (Sistrix), January 2025 – August 2026 (the file you already have).
VISIBILITY INDEX
+ 14M
Organic clicks
65%
Share of Voice
2B+
Impressions
~1.000
Queries ranking #1
6,9
Average position
2,5M+
Google Discover clicks
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