FIFA lands India rights deal with Z until 2034
FIFA has secured a long-term broadcast and distribution partner in India with ‘Z’, packaging the 2026 and 2030 men’s World Cups and a wider slate of tournaments into an eight-year deal until 2034.
FIFA has agreed a wide-ranging media partnership with ‘Z’ to broadcast and distribute a portfolio of 39 FIFA events in India from 2026 to 2034, including the FIFA World Cup 2026, the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2027 and the FIFA World Cup 2030.The agreement is commercially significant because India is a strategic growth market with large digital reach, and the deal provides FIFA with committed multi-platform distribution as it expands its competition calendar and monetisation across men’s, women’s and youth football.Romy Gai, FIFA’s chief business officer, said: “The FIFA World Cup is the greatest show on earth, and we are glad to partner with ‘Z’ for the first time, to bring this global spectacle to India.”FIFA said the package spans men’s, women’s and youth competitions, plus documentary content linked to the events, widening inventory for programming, shoulder content and sponsor integrations.Matches and related programming will be carried across ‘Z’’s UNITE8 Sports linear channels and its Zee5 digital platform, with multi-language coverage positioned to broaden accessibility and deepen engagement.Punit Goenka, chief executive of Zee Entertainment Enterprises, said: “Football cuts across regions and demographics, and the investments in garnering the media rights and launching dedicated sports channels reflect our clear belief in its long-term potential.”The structure suggests a dual objective for ‘Z’, using premium global rights to accelerate its sports proposition while building a longer runway for advertising, subscriptions and distribution leverage.For FIFA, the deal helps reduce market-by-market uncertainty ahead of 2026 and supports its wider strategy of increasing visibility and frequency of FIFA competition touchpoints in high-population territories.Financial terms were not disclosed, and FIFA did not detail sublicensing, highlights or betting rights provisions linked to the package.The next steps are operational rollout across UNITE8 Sports and Zee5, confirmation of production plans and language feeds, and commercial activation planning ahead of the FIFA World Cup 2026.