The 48-team FIFA World Cup 2026 will be held in the USA, Canada and Mexico. It starts on June 11. (AP)
New Delhi: What do India, China, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and Sri Lanka have in common? With less than two months to go, none of them have an official broadcaster to present the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which is set to begin on June 11.The upcoming extravaganza will feature 48 countries and 104 matches and will be played in the US, Canada and Mexico. The biggest sporting event in the world will transform billions, including those who haven’t watched any football in those four years.
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Why Ahmedabad is probably the sports capital of India? | Bombay Sports Stock ExchangeHowever, India and China, the two most populous countries, could miss out entirely if the situation does not change quickly.FIFA began the process of selling the media rights for the next two FIFA Men’s World Cups and the 2027 FIFA Women’s Cup in India in July 2025. The initial asking price of $100 million was reportedly drastically reduced to $35 million, yet no buyers came forward.Viacom18, now part of the JioStar group, paid $62 million for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. In 2013, Sony Sports spent $90 million on the 2014 and 2018 World Cups, Euro 2016, the 2017 U-17 World Cup and the Confederations Cup in the same year.The merger of Star India and Viacom18 has been attributed as one of the reasons for fewer players in the market. Sony Pictures Network India (SPNI), which owns the rights to the Euros, the UEFA Champions League and a host of other football events, has stayed away. A strong dollar against the Indian rupee was another reason for the cautious outlook.
File photo of the World Cup trophy. (OR)
Probably the biggest reason is the timing of the matches. The opening match between Mexico and South Africa in Mexico City will start at 12:30 p.m. Only 14 of the total 104 matches in the upcoming World Cup will start before midnight in India. Even the final, which is played on July 19 at the New Jersey Stadium, will start at 12:30 p.m. In 2022 (Qatar), 44 of 64 matches started before midnight and 63 of 64 in 2018 (Russia).“The timing is strange. Timing in the US will be difficult for India. When we (Ten Sports) had the rights to West Indies Cricket, people watched highlights more than live matches,” said Neeraj Jha, head of sports business for India and South Asia at Warner Bros. Discovery.The timing of the matches makes a big difference. Advertising inventory is limited in football due to fewer stops, unlike cricket. Although FIFA created slots for broadcasters with mandatory three-minute hydration breaks in both halves. In India, where sports broadcasting relies heavily on advertising rather than subscriptions, this is another opportunity.UK viewers will get the World Cup on BBC and ITV as free-to-air options, but this is part of their tax structure. In the US, the World Cup broadcast will cost at least $19.99 on Fox One. In comparison, the 2022 World Cup in India was telecast for free on JioCinema and for Rs 12 on Sports18 HD. Not surprisingly, linear TV audiences have moved to digital and ad revenue has followed.
The picture appears to be more nuanced than a simple lack of subscribers. Brands want to spend where the eyeballs are, and the eyeballs are currently on cricket
Rohit Potphode
“India is a low ARPU (average revenue per user) market for sports, games and anywhere with a subscription. The picture seems more nuanced than a simple lack of interest. Broadcasters are probably considering a combination of structural and commercial considerations. Brands want to spend where the eyeballs are, and the eyeballs are currently on cricket,” said Rohitaging Potphode, Managing Sports Partners. Dentsu India.“The main hurdle is the start times, especially when it comes to the audience. Purists and crazies still sign up, but not everyone.“Also, the (Lionel) Messi – (Cristiano) Ronaldo era seems to have faded a bit. In India, the AIFF is recalibrating. So it’s affecting the business side of things, not the audience side. So these are a couple of consumer or business reasons,” he explained.A decline in non-cricket spending
An artisan paints a clay model of the FIFA World Cup trophy in his workshop ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Kolkata. (PTI Photo)
But was the writing on the wall? WPP Media’s India Sports Sponsorship 2025 report said the sports industry doubled from 2021 to 2025, but the non-cricket market was worth just 11%.It doesn’t help that the upcoming FIFA World Cup comes less than two weeks after the IPL ends. By then, many brands will have exhausted their ad spend on sports.The English Premier League rights were sold for $145 million for three seasons from 2013 to 2016. However, the latest rights for 2025-28 were sold for $65 million, a decrease of 55.17%. LaLiga broadcast rights bounced around several services before landing on Dream11-owned FanCode.
Argentina football team fans before the 2022 FIFA World Cup final match between Argentina and France in Kolkata. (PTI Photo)
All said and done, is India’s absence a big blow to FIFA? In 2024, FIFA budgeted $3.9 billion in broadcast rights revenue for the 2026 edition. If $35 million is the going rate for the region, this represents less than one percent of the total box office.However, the impact is on the long-term access, reach and exposure of the product. “They’re not just looking at (FIFA) this year, next year or the year after, they’re looking at a 10-year horizon,” Rohit Potphode said.“There may be a potential loss of funding or revenue in the short term. But that doesn’t affect the bottom line. They’re in the green. Money doesn’t care. It’s about staying strong and building it for the next 10 years, instead of just seeing the next few years,” he continued.what next
File photo of a broadcast TV camera during a Championship match between Bristol City and Watford. (Getty Images)
Potphode explained that FIFA has no intention of selling its properties below cost and is “absolutely lined up” in terms of commercial ambitions.“They already have FIFA+ as a direct-to-consumer platform, so the worst-case scenario is that they will go there. But they are very clear that they don’t want to dilute the value or equity that they have built up in the market over the last couple of years,” explained Dentsu’s Potphode, the organization that has a comprehensive media rights mandate for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in Japan.Last Friday was the deadline for a final bid or offer, but an extension is not out of the realm of possibility. However, as the months before the tournament turn into weeks, any potential broadcaster needs time to finalize the deal and build assets for marketing. Anything later than a week wouldn’t make marketing sense.The insider believes that JioStar is the main contender for the rights and is waiting for the last moment when the price seems right. “Their distribution is good and there could be a lot of money coming in that way. Their streaming business is also strong so it makes business sense for them,” the industry veteran explained.
India has yet to get a broadcasting station for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. (Image generated by AI)
A last ditch Hail Mary involves Doordarshan, the public broadcaster that broadcast the 1998 World Cup, played in France.For that to happen, the primary broadcaster must step in and share the rights. It also remains unclear how an entire FIFA World Cup that did not include India would constitute a sporting event of national importance, as required under the Sports Broadcasting Signals Act (mandatory sharing with Prasar Bharati). At best, the semifinals and finals could be split.As things stand, India does not have an official broadcaster to showcase the biggest spectacle on the planet. But it’s not all grim; this may change very soon.
