Folarin Balogun of the United States shoots during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Round of 16 match between the USA and Belgium in Seattle, Washington, July 6, 2026.
Mb Media | Getty Images Sports | Getty Images
As the FIFA World Cup captures a global audience, media companies are preparing to pay billions for the rights to the next two men’s tournaments.
netflix, Disney again Letters of the alphabet YouTube is all about challenging A fox U.S. broadcast rights to the 2030 and 2034 World Cups, according to people familiar with the matter.
Amazoncurrently owns the UEFA Champions League rights in the UK, too apple, which owns the MLS global rights, could also get into trouble, setting off a potential rights bidding war.
Discussions between FIFA and potential media partners are expected to begin in the next three months, according to people familiar with the matter.
FIFA warned media companies during initial negotiations, which began earlier this year, that US English- and Spanish-speaking rights may be sold together, rather than separately as has been the case for previous Cups including 2026, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the talks are confidential.
Fox paid $485 million for the English-language rights to this year’s tournament, which is hosted in every city in North America, according to The Athletic. NBCUniversal’s Telemundo paid $600 million for the Spanish-language rights, according to people familiar with the matter.
Executives at various media companies are budgeting between $1.5 billion and $2 billion to acquire US rights to each contest in different languages, the people said. The last time FIFA negotiated a deal, with Fox and Telemundo, was in 2011. Four years later, FIFA extended that agreement to 2026.
FIFA will not sell the world rights to this tournament, because different countries have laws that allow the World Cup to be sold on the air. But the US rights will be dimmed, with large audiences and advertising opportunities.
Netflix, Disney and YouTube are all eyeing the World Cup as a potential boost to their streaming services, according to people familiar with the matter.
Disney can also air games on ESPN and ABC, which could appeal to FIFA as broadcasts on Fox have seen strong ratings this year. FIFA has already shown interest in Netflix by awarding it the Women’s World Cup in 2027 and 2031.
Spokesmen for FIFA, Netflix, YouTube and Disney declined to comment.
Selling one pack
Selling the English and Spanish language rights as a single package could help FIFA collect a higher price, increasing bids from media partners eager for bigger ratings. Combined TV audiences for US sports in recent weeks have rivaled those of the NFL playoffs.
It would also help to eliminate tensions between rival media companies that broadcast the same sports.
Although Telemundo only bought the Spanish-language rights through 2026, it sought out English-speaking strangers watching the games in the US through the Peacock streaming service, which limited the reach of Fox’s World Cup.
Peacock costs just $10.99 a month, while Fox’s streaming service, Fox One, costs $19.99 a month.
Telemundo also signed actor Owen Wilson, who is not Latino or known to speak Spanish, as an announcer for World Cup games in Spanish, blurring the lines for English- and Spanish-speaking American audiences.
If the English-language and Spanish-language shows are sold together, NBCUniversal won’t be able to compete for the rights at a price approaching $2 billion, according to people familiar with the matter. That would eliminate Telemundo as a future partner.
Comcast announced last month that it intends to spin off NBCUniversal, giving investors more focus on its future investments. NBCU already pays billions a year for the NFL’s “Sunday Night” and the NBA. An NBC spokeswoman declined to comment.
It leaves US time zones
Both the 2030 and 2034 World Cups are in less attractive time slots for US TV viewing than this year’s World Cup, which is taking place in the US, Mexico and Canada.
The 2030 World Cup will be held in Morocco, Portugal and Spain, where there is a time difference of five or six hours with the US Eastern time zone. The 2034 World Cup will be hosted by Saudi Arabia, where the time difference is quite dramatic.
However, the high ratings of this year’s World Cup will increase the price significantly.
Last week’s US victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina was the most-watched soccer broadcast in English-language history, drawing more than 26 million viewers, according to Fox Sports.
Another 9.8 million viewers watched the game on Telemundo or Peacock.
Monday night’s game between the US and Belgium will likely report even higher ratings. Although Nielsen ratings have not yet been released, the combined English and Spanish audience for the US-Belgium game averaged 47.9 million viewers, according to estimates from AdImpact.
Even non-American shows drew large audiences. More than 11 million viewers watched Portugal vs. Croatia on Fox, making it the most-watched non-final game in US history that did not feature a US team.
