FIFA faces late World Cup rights gap in India and China
FIFA is still without confirmed 2026 World Cup broadcast agreements in India and China, raising late-stage commercial and operational risk in two of the tournament’s biggest audience markets.
FIFA has yet to finalise broadcast deals for the 2026 men’s World Cup in India and China, an unusually late position that risks disrupting advertising sales and technical delivery in two key viewing markets.In India, a Reliance-Disney joint venture has offered US$20m for the 2026 rights, according to sources familiar with the talks, a figure FIFA has not accepted.FIFA said: “Discussions in China and India regarding the sale of media rights for the FIFA World Cup 2026 are ongoing and must remain confidential at this stage.”The 2026 tournament kicks off on June 11 in the United States, Canada and Mexico, leaving barely five weeks for any rights award to be translated into platform build, distribution planning and commercial inventory sales.FIFA said it has concluded agreements with broadcasters in more than 175 territories, underlining how isolated the India and China negotiations are at this stage of the cycle.The India process has been shaped by a reset in market expectations. FIFA initially sought around US$100m for rights covering the 2026 and 2030 World Cups, sources said, before lowering its asking price in negotiations.India’s last World Cup deal was struck much earlier. Reliance’s then standalone media business secured the 2022 rights for about US$60m, with the agreement announced roughly 14 months before the tournament in Qatar.Reliance-Disney is understood to be modelling lower audience delivery for 2026 because of match timings, with many games expected to air after midnight in India due to the North American schedule. The group has also prioritised cricket rights spend, reinforcing the opportunity cost of paying a premium for football.Sony held discussions with FIFA but opted not to submit a bid, a person with direct knowledge of the talks said, reflecting a broader caution on the economics of the package in the Indian market.China presents a different set of risks. No rights deal has been announced there either, despite FIFA citing China as accounting for 49.8% of all hours of viewing on digital and social platforms globally during the 2022 World Cup.In previous cycles, Chinese state broadcaster CCTV secured rights well in advance and began running promotional content and sponsor-led advertising weeks before kick-off, setting a benchmark for lead time that has not yet been met.Rohit Potphode, managing partner for sports at Dentsu India, said: “Not much time is left but I won’t call it a stalemate. It’s more like we are at the end of a chess game with a couple of moves left.”Any further delay increases the likelihood of compressed sponsor activation windows and reduced value capture, particularly if broadcasters cannot confidently pre-sell inventory or commit marketing budgets without clarity on distribution.