In four decades of researching the marketing power of sports and entertainment, no project or client of ours has opened our minds and made us prouder to work with than the Homeless World Cup. And now, the Netflix film “The Beautiful Game” is amplifying the inspiring message of the Homeless World Cup by streaming it directly into people’s homes, making the two platforms of “sport + home entertainment” a powerful force in shaping perceptions of unhoused people.
For those unfamiliar, Homeless World Cup is a global initiative with the ambitious goal of eradicating homelessness worldwide. Using soccer as the platform, it helps individuals move from isolation to inclusion, regain self-respect, and take control of their lives. The organization’s impact speaks for itself: Over its 20+ years and across 68 member countries, it reaches over 100,000 unhoused individuals annually and has transformed over 1.2 million lives. Our ProSocial Valuation®, which uses data-backed research to show a proven correlation between a social intervention and its measurable impact, revealed that for every $1 invested, the Homeless World Cup delivered $8.62 worth of social capital by reducing the community cost to homelessness and reintegrating individuals into society.
“The Beautiful Game” is not a documentary about a humanitarian project, but a fictionalized version of the real event, giving it a wider audience and a better chance for emotional connection. There are powerful moments to make a viewer rethink homeless in a different light. As Mal, coach of the fictional England team of unhoused players remarks early in the movie, “Every player has a story to tell- heartbreaking, unexpected, thrilling stories…People who fall through the cracks, lost their way, their pride, forgot their dreams. This competition brings us all together.”
In the final minute of the film, you can catch a glimpse of Mel Young, the true-life co-founder of The Homeless World Cup, handing medals to athletes winning the championship. With the backing of Netflix’s global platform, Mel’s message will reach audiences far bigger than the real Homeless World Cup, sparking conversations and possibly galvanizing support for his and similar initiatives around the world.
