Simone Scott is a sports reporter known for her “For the Girls” series breaking down the biggest sports moments. She is one of 30 creators selected globally as one of TikTok and FIFA’s World Cup 2026 Creator Correspondents.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
Dylan Wells: Talk to me about your background as a creator and as a sports reporter, and how you got into the creator space from traditional media.
Simone Scott: My dad is a retired NBA player, so sports were always our background. It's what we talked about at dinner. I went to University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and majored in journalism and mass communication, focusing on sports. I was a sports anchor, and after I graduated I went to work for Fox Sports, covering football and basketball recruiting, and also the Big Ten, ACC, the SEC — very traditional. It wasn't quite like at a news desk, but I was at games, talking to recruits and the players.
I wanted to move more television-wise, so I was at a journalism conference, and a recruiter from a big network was like, "Why don't you just start making your own videos, like just talk to the camera, do that, have fun with it.” And so I started my TikTok page September of 2024, it was basically fantasy football geared towards women, because I have an all-girls fantasy league, and I know there are a lot of people that were very interested in fantasy, but they had no idea what was going on. Guys are just, they're very loud, and I wanted to give the same information you would get from any other sports page, just with a feminine touch and a nice background. It grew into people having more questions, and so I was really filling a gap of whatever confuses you about sports, let's talk about it, so you can join the conversation and feel more acceptable, whether it's at work or you're at the bar and everyone's cheering for the game, and you want to know what's happening.
DW: Sports is such a saturated space online — talk to me about that “For the Girls” series and what you've found has resonated with your audience.
SS: I always want to make sure people know I'm not dumbing it down, because women aren't dumb at all, we're actually the smarter ones, but it's just making it simpler. Whether it's what's the punishment for a red card, or what is offside, what is a mulligan in golf, and just things that you might see on TV or hear about, and like, Why is everyone talking about this? Why do they care?
I wanted women to have a place where they could come and ask me questions, and I'm going to give it to you straight with no mansplaining, and there's not going to be any misogyny. Sports are such a cool thing, where they bring people together, and I just want everyone to feel like they have a place in it, too.
DW: How long after you started making these videos did you decide to pursue this full time?
SS: About six months in, after my first football season concluded. That's when I had my first hockey and golf moments. I'm like, "Okay, I really should try to lean in on this,” because with sports there's always something happening, there's always a season going on. So, if I really just take my time, focus on this, then we can really make some exciting things happen.
DW: How much of a soccer fan are you? Is this your first World Cup you've covered?
SS: This is my first World Cup. I wasn't necessarily a soccer fan; I had seen soccer matches. I'm always big into the big cultural moments, and whenever the World Cup was going on, I was your biggest fan. I didn't always know what was happening, but I'm going to catch every US game, I'm going to be screaming at the screen, just figuring out what's happening. So I was going to cover the World Cup anyway, because people were going to have questions, and I had questions.
When TikTok came to me with this opportunity, at first I thought they just wanted a video. I'm like, “Sure.” And then they're like, “No, we have some matches that we want you to go to,” and they gave me a list, and I'm like, “So should I just pick one?” And they're like, “No, all of them.” And so that was crazy. My goal was to be able to go to one match throughout the World Cup, that's a bucket list item, so the fact that I'm actually not just going to multiple matches, but getting this crazy, unprecedented access, it's just beyond my wildest dream.
DW: What does it actually look like to be one of these FIFA TikTok correspondents on the ground?
SS: It's been so exciting, just to see the athletes up close, because we start with bus arrivals, so we'll watch them get off the bus, see how everyone's feeling. It's fun to see the different vibes that different countries have. Like, England, very proper. Meanwhile, another country, they had music blasting. So it's fun to see that. And then after that, we usually go to the fan fest, get to talk to some fans. I've been working on just an ongoing list of [fans’] favorite American food that they tried. They are big burger fans and they love brisket.
After that, we go to the pitch and we'll get pre-game warm-ups, and we'll watch [the players] coming out the tunnel, and then they're stretching. I always find it interesting just the different stretches they do, whether it's the referees, they have their own routine down there, and then they start shooting towards the goal, and the goalkeepers are diving, and I'm trying not to get hit with a ball, which luckily hasn't happened to me yet. It did happen to a girl the other day, she got hit from Mbappe.
Once that's over, we go take our seats in the stands, and also probably go to the press box at that time and charge up my phone, because we use up a lot of battery. Once the game is over, we'll go down to the zone where the man of the match comes and talks, and then the players all walk through, and some of them want to talk, some of them aren't really trying to talk, but we'll at least get some footage there. We finish up, usually back on the pitch, where we can get some exclusive access, and I'll go and sit on the bench and do a little tour, so it's just wild.
DW: There are some challenges around sports content and licensing, how do you think about those kinds of restrictions?
SS: I definitely get it, because we kind of work together with your traditional broadcast [reporters]. There's no way creators can replace regular journalists or regular broadcasts. I like to think of us as a supplement. So, you're gonna have your regular game that you can watch, whether it's on a computer or your TV, and then your phone, you can scroll and get some behind-the-scenes access with us of things that maybe they don't have time to show, or maybe they're not even thinking about showing, that's more relaxed and fun, and curiosity driven.
I understand the restrictions with FIFA, like, once the game starts, we're done filming the field, and I understand that, because that's FOX, that’s Telemundo, and they have those rights. But then once the game's over, then we're back at it. I mean, is it always the funnest? No, but you do what you got to do, because that's the rules, and rules are there for a reason. It wouldn't make sense for me to film the field as well, if you're going to get a clear shot from their 37 cameras.
DW: Do you think about stories differently now compared to your more traditional media sports reporter background?
SS: I still have my journalistic core. I'm going to give you real news. I'm not — I mean, more power to people that are able to do more controversial stuff or things like that — but I'm just not very “clickbaity.”
With my traditional background, I'm gonna fact check stuff. I try to be kind of polished. I think of it as a relaxed kind of news version.
DW: How do you think that creators have affected how all of us are experiencing this World Cup?
SS: I think creators have played a huge part, because they're like your supplemental thing, everyone watches everything on two screens now, whether it's during the match or before the match or after the match. Creators are able to give you exclusive access and different perspectives that you wouldn't even think about.
I'm having a great time watching all the Europeans come to experience America for the first time … and I wouldn't be able to see this without creators. … whether it's what they're eating, what they're drinking, what they think of our air conditioning, how the parking works, like just how nice people are. I think creators all play a part, but again, there's room for everyone. There's room for the creators, and there's also room for your traditional broadcasts and your traditional journalists.
DW: How do you think about these big social media companies investing in these big sports moments? It's very different from the traditional media path.
SS: It validates what we've been doing. The fact that these huge social media platforms, like TikTok, are sending people there, and because of [creators’] authenticity, and also the reputation they have that the company has, FIFA respects them enough to give them this exclusive access, like it shows that you know we trust you, we trust what you're doing, we trust what your creators are going to do.
This Q+A is part of Verified, a newsletter that is published by Washington Post Creator, a new business outside The Washington Post’s newsroom that is focused on the creator economy and content partnerships with independent creators. Learn more about Washington Post Creator.
