A lot of soccer fans would watch all 104 World Cup games for free if they could. So, two fans getting paid $50,000 each to watch all of the matches is a dream job to many.
They have to watch all 104 of the World Cup games in the middle of Times Square in New York City in what some have referred to as a “Truman Show-style experiment.”
Fox chose the two soccer fans, Austin Franklin and Kevin Akoto, from thousands of applicants to be its official World Cup viewers for the next six weeks.
As “Chief World Cup Watchers,” Franklin and Akoto have to watch every game inside a specially designed viewing cube in the center of Times Square.
When Akoto, a Liverpool fan from Florida, found out that he was chosen, he immediately quit his job as a waiter.
“I found out on Thursday that I had won the competition and so I told them on Friday that would be my last day!” he told the Guardian.
In addition to watching all of the World Cup games, the duo has to “create social media content, record their reactions, and engage with fans.”
What is it like living inside the glass cube?
“It has really felt a bit like being on The Truman Show,” Franklin, an influencer from Philadelphia, said about the experience so far. “I forget at times that we’re here. I’m watching a game for minutes and then I look over at Kevin and I see people on top of me. It’s like: ‘Oh my God!’ There’s 30 people watching us, watching games, most of the time. It is a weird experience.”
In addition to the $50K, they also receive food inspired by each participating nation while inside the cube.
“I mean, I’m sitting on a couch, watching football. It’s pretty fun,” said Franklin. “There is something about the spirit of the World Cup that takes over. We have pretty much the perfect job.”