UMATILLA, Ore.-The 2026 World Cup recently concluded with Spain capturing the trophy with a thrilling 1-0 win over Argentina in the final match on July 19.
The tournament captured the hearts and attention of American fans, with record numbers of viewers tuning in as the United States Men’s National Team (USMNT) made a run to the round of 16.
Erick Olson, of Umatilla, longtime local sportscaster, radio news and sports director, and “Voice of the Hermiston Bulldogs,” was part of the Fox broadcast team this summer.
The World Cup lasted over a month, and Olson was there for it all, catching 22 flights and traveling just under 33,000 air miles to cover the action on the pitch.
Part of Fox’s “lead team”
Fox Sports covered the entire tournament, with the network’s number one soccer broadcast team of John Strong and Stu Holden on the call, with Olson conducting stats and research during the broadcast, for every USMNT game, other marquee matchups, and the final.
“I’ve known John more or less since I was ten and moved to Oregon,” Olson said of Strong, whom he went to middle school, and later the University of Oregon with.
While at the University of Oregon, Olson and Strong were the first to put student broadcasters on campus radio, and the two traveled, calling all sports, honing the craft that would become their calling.
Strong, Holden, and Olson are all the same age (although Olson is the oldest by about seven months), and that camaraderie and passion for sports and the art of broadcasting are evident on air.
“The amount of work John and Stu put in is amazing, they’re the best at this now for a reason,” said Olson. “They’re such good leaders, captains, and partners. We work as a team to get the best product.”
This is the 10th summer in the past 11 that Olson has worked with Strong, and all three men have worked together to broadcast international tournaments for the past nine years.
2026 marked the third consecutive World Cup worked by the trio, following trips to Russia in 2018 and Qatar in 2022.
Each World Cup experience has been different, from the teams competing, to the cultures of the host countries, according to Olson.
In Russia, Olson remembers not being able to travel anywhere without a tight security presence, while in Qatar, all the stadiums were within two hours of each other, and the team was able to stay in the same hotel for 40 days during the tournament.
Host stadiums for the 2026 World Cup were thousands of miles apart, necessitating endless flights as the lead Fox broadcast team called 21 games, including the final between Spain and Argentina.
The 2026 World Cup
The 2026 FIFA World Cup featured the first expanded field in the tournament’s history, with 48 teams competing for the title at stadiums in Canada, the United States, and Mexico.
Olson’s World Cup began on June 12th in Los Angeles as the USMNT beat Paraguay 4-1. After the game, the broadcast team flew across the country for the Brazil versus Morocco match at MetLife Stadium in New York on July 13.
The broadcast team then flew to Atlanta for the match between Spain and Cape Verde, a small island in the Atlantic off the Northwestern coast of Africa with a population of about 530,000 that was making its first-ever World Cup appearance.
“It was one of the championship favorites against a team that became the Cinderella of the tournament,” Olson said of the matchup.
Cape Verde played Spain to a 0-0 draw and would ultimately advance to the round of 16 before bowing out of the tournament.
Olson and the Fox team then traveled to Kansas City on June 16th, followed by Dallas on the 17th, before heading to Seattle on the 18th, for the USMNT’s game the next day.
“For USMNT games we would do match day minus one,” said Olson. “We’d go to training and meet with Mauricio Pochettino (USMNT Coach), players, and do research the day before the game.”
Even casual fans embraced soccer this summer, with the excitement for American fans perhaps reaching fever pitch after the USMNT blanked Australia 2-0 in Seattle.
“Seattle was out of this world good as a host city,” said Olson. “We did both U.S. games there and the energy in the leadup was incredible.”
After the USMNT beat Australia, Olson and the broadcast team had a travel day to get to Atlanta for the game between Spain and Saudi Arabia on the 21st.
On the 22nd the team broadcast France versus Iraq from Philadelphia, a game that saw a prolonged weather delay, which caused the Fox team to have to drive to Boston for the England and Ghana game the next day.
Olson, Strong, and Holden then flew cross-country again to Los Angeles for the U.S. and Turkey match, before flying to Miami for the Portugal and Colombia game on the 27th.
All of that flying got Olson and the broadcast crew to the Knockout Stage of the World Cup, where 32 teams remained.
From Miami, the broadcast team flew from Miami to Mexico for a game before flying to San Francisco the next morning for the U.S. and Bosnia and Herzegovina game on July 1.
The broadcast team then flew to Miami, where Cape Verde tried to continue its Cinderella run against perennial power Argentina.
“That was one of the most fun experiences we had,” said Olson, of the upstart Cape Verde team. “No doubt we wanted to tell that story. The genuine joy and disbelief can be heard in Stu’s voice, and the way John called that game was great.”
Argentina prevailed with a 3-2 victory, and it was off to Boston for Olson and the Fox team on July 4th to broadcast France’s 1-0 victory over Paraguay.
Back in Seattle ahead of the U.S. matchup with Belgium, Olson enjoyed perhaps his favorite World Cup moment when the broadcast team had what would be its last sit-down with Pochettino, during training at the University of Washington.
“We developed a fantastic relationship with Mauricio, he’s an incredible leader,” said Olson. “The UW husky was there, and the groundskeeper’s dog was there too. It was a great time with Mauricio, his assistant and the groundskeeper’s dog.”
The USMNT’s tournament came to an end with a 4-1 loss to Belgium, but Olson’s work was not done.
The broadcast team flew back to Boston, and then on to Miami for quarterfinal matchups, before doing both semifinals, one in Dallas and the other in Atlanta, and the final back in New York.
Spain and Argentina played for the World Cup at MetLife Stadium on July 19, with Spain ultimately claiming the championship with a 1-0 victory.
Broadcasting the beautiful game, witnessing greatness
Everyone tuning into a World Cup broadcast can see the action, however, the role of the broadcast team is to explain to viewers why what they just saw happened.
“John and Stu are really good at explaining why something happened, and it’s fun to be a part of that by helping build character and tell the stories of the players and teams on the field,” said Olson.
Due to FIFA rules on when and how members of the broadcast team can communicate with other teams, the broadcast team didn’t have the chance to relate with other teams the way they did with the USMNT.
As a result, Olson spent his downtime during the World Cup researching, watching and learning about other players and teams, so their stories could be told on air.
“It’s about figuring out what statistics are relevant and fit into the context of the game, then passing those on to John and Stu during the broadcast,” said Olson.
This summer even casual fans caught soccer fever as the World Cup came to America and the USMNT made it to the round of 16, and viewership records were set and broken in a matter of days.
“John and Stu and the team want to make soccer accessible,” said Olson. “It’s O.K. for the casual fan to tune in, hear stories and be intrigued. More people watched a soccer broadcast than ever before this summer, that’s amazing.”
The USMNT’s loss to Belgium on July 6 was seen by an average of 37 million people with a peak of 41 million viewers, according to Nielsen data, a record for a soccer telecast in America.
That record stood for exactly 13 days, until an average of almost 39 million people, with a peak of 51 million, tuned in to watch Spain beat Argentina for the title.
Every team competing in the World Cup is essentially an all-star team, with the likes of France’s Kylian Mbappé, Norway’s Erling Haaland, and Spain’s Lamine Yamal taking the pitch, however, soccer’s brightest star, Lionel Messi, continued to shine at age 39.
Messi scored eight goals and recorded four assists in what may have been his final World Cup.
“Every indication is that this was his last one, and it’s not lost on me that we got to see something special,” said Olson. “If that was the last time we see Messi, then we were part of an incredible chapter in soccer history.”
A career in broadcasting
Olson initially intended to be a sports journalist, writing instead of broadcasting, however, during his senior year at Oregon he gave play-by-play a try, figuring he could always go back to writing.
In 2007, the Oregon School Activities Association (OSAA) gave Olson the opportunity to go to Baker and broadcast the 1A basketball tournament his senior year.
According to Olson, it was during those games at Baker that he decided to pursue a job in radio.
He called some day games before doing some consolation bracket games on the other side of the state, including some with the Hermiston girls’ basketball team when they won a trophy.
About a month later, Olson was in Hermiston for the first time ever to interview for a news and sports radio job with KOHU.
“The first time I’d ever set foot in Hermiston was the day of my interview,” said Olson. “I got here early and drove around, then during the interview they said if I was graduating that spring they’d hold the job for me.”
A couple weeks after graduation Olson was on the air in Hermiston and ended up staying for 20 years, eventually becoming the News and Sports Director at KOHU, as well as broadcasting high school sports as the “voice of the Hermiston Bulldogs.”
Over two decades behind the microphone, Olson has seen, experienced and broadcast it all, including Hermiston winning a playoff football game his first year, as well as both the boys and girls basketball teams going undefeated one year, with the boys winning their first ever trophy at state, and the girls falling in the state title game.
Olson also fondly recalls wrestling and football state titles, and the walk-off extra inning win for Hermiston in the state softball semifinals in 2013.
“There’s plenty of indelible games and memories I’ll never forget,” said Olson. “As for the best? It just depends on the moment, or what sport we’re talking about.”
In 2013, Olson received the Oregon Association of Broadcasters Radio Sports Broadcaster of the Year award for his call in the bottom half of the inning of that memorable semifinal softball game.
Olson also has a sports Emmy to his name, earning a National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) Outstanding Trans-Media Sports Coverage award as part of the Fox broadcast team for the 2018 World Cup.
The next broadcast
John Strong and Stu Holden are the first American broadcast duo to call three consecutive World Cups, and with broadcast rights for the next one undecided, Olson isn’t sure if the team will be back in the booth in 2030.
The local sports broadcast landscape also changed when KOHU went off the air on April 30, shocking listeners in Northeast Oregon.
Olson, who also works as a Transition Specialist at Umatilla High School, helping students with disabilities prepare for life after graduation, and coaches softball for the Vikings, is now working on rebuilding a broadcast operation for local sports at mixlr.com/gohermiston.
“KOHU sports was nearly 60 years old,” said Olson. “It’s important to me to keep telling stories and to still have an avenue for that.”
Olson will once again broadcast the Farm City Pro Rodeo this August, and when school starts in the fall he plans to do at least two or three live broadcasts a week, including player and coach interviews and games coverage.
“Whether it’s the rodeo, wrestling, or football on Friday nights my mindset now is to tell stories about sports in a positive way,” said Olson. “There’s still lots of opportunities to highlight kids in the community, the hard work they put in and the experiences they’re having.”
