The World Cup is racking up huge numbers for Fox. As explained by Andrew Marchand of The Athletic, it could be Fox’s last stand on the global soccer stage.
The 2026 World Cup is the final tournament of the current Fox contract — and Fox has gotten a massive bargain at a price tag of only $485 million for what it regards as a second full NFL regular season of sports content.
The rights for the U.S. version of the 2030 World Cup broadcast could land anywhere. Which is significant because 2030 is expected to be the first year of the next round of NFL broadcast deals. Both sports ultimately will be boxing each other out for the same budgets.
Netflix has the rights to the next two editions of the Women’s World Cup, in 2027 and 2031. Its experience next year could make it more (or, in theory, less) interested in another massive international undertaking. (The 2030 World Cup will be spread across six countries and three continents — Spain, Portugal, Morocco, Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay.)
How much will the 2030 World Cup rights be worth? Like anything else, whatever someone will pay for them. And a deep-pocketed streamer could blow the traditional networks out of the water.
In selling the World Cup rights, FIFA (unlike the NFL) won’t have to worry about political pressure arising from potential antitrust concerns. As a single entity, FIFA isn’t subject to the laws that prevent separate businesses from working together to fix prices.
Whatever happens, it’s safe to say that the 2030 World Cup rights will fetch far more than $485 million the next time around. With more domestic interest in the World Cup, more teams, more matches, and more ad inventory thanks to the made-for-making-money “hydration breaks,” FIFA could get at least $1 billion for the U.S. broadcast.
Especially since it already should be.
