- Fifa originally targeting US$100m in India
- CCTV yet to agree deal in China
- Similar standoffs occurred during 2023 Women’s World Cup
Fifa has reportedly yet to agree broadcast deals in China and India for the 2026 men’s World Cup, raising the prospect of a television and streaming blackout affecting hundreds of millions of soccer fans just five weeks away from kick-off.
World soccer’s governing body has so far agreed broadcast deals covering more than 175 territories around the world, but the lack of an agreement for the world’s two most populous nations will be concerning given their significant contribution to viewership.
Although neither China and India haven’t qualified for the competition and soccer isn’t the most popular sport in either country, both nations are a significant source of viewership for the World Cup.
Fifa claims linear, digital and social content featuring the 2022 Fifa World Cup reached 1.16 billion people in China and 746 million in India. Indeed, China accounted for more than half of all live viewership on digital and social platforms, with linear coverage reaching 509.8 million viewers.
Meanwhile, in India, linear coverage reached 83.8 million people and streaming attracted 84.9 million viewers.
According to Reuters, world soccer’s governing body is unhappy with the US$20 million offered by Jio Hotstar to show the tournament in India, having already reduced its asking price of US$100 million.
The merger between Reliance and Disney’s broadcast assets that created Jio Hotstar has reduced competitive tension in the Indian market. But the unfavourable time difference between North America and South America means it will be difficult for any broadcaster to maximise audiences to deliver a sufficient return on investment in a country where pay-TV adoption remains limited.
The macroeconomic impact of conflict in the Middle East is also having an impact on a market in which, despite the popularity of international soccer, is dominated by cricket.
Meanwhile, in China, the rights to the World Cup have traditionally been owned by state broadcaster CCTV, which makes games available on its linear networks and associated streaming services.
It is unclear what the holdup is in China, with Reuters noting that CCTV usually signs deals well in advance of the tournament, giving it as long as possible to promote its coverage.
The stalemates will be of concern to Fifa given the importance of both countries to its audience metrics.
The inability of broadcasters in both China and India to promote their coverage in the months leading up the tournament means that viewership could already be negatively impacted – even if a deal is secured in the next few days or weeks.
Ultimately Fifa would be able to make matches available via its in-house Fifa+ direct-to-consumer (DTC) streaming service, but such a move would forfeit the promotional capabilities of local broadcasters entirely and risks encouraging piracy.
Lower official viewership and increased illegal activity could harm the value of the rights long term, potentially impacting sponsorship agreements too.
Yet this is not the first time in recent memory that Fifa has been prepared to negotiate key broadcast agreements until the last minute in order to extract additional revenues.
Negotiations in several major European markets for the 2023 Fifa Women’s World Cup went down to the wire, and the Fifa Club World Cup was without a broadcaster until DAZN stepped in with a US$1 billion global offer after receiving an equivalent investment from Saudi-backed funds, while the Fifa Women’s Champions Cup rights were only agreed on the eve of the competition.
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