The 2026 FIFA WC Does Not Have An Official Broadcaster In India | WION

Moving on to some sports news, the FIFA World Cup is uh just a couple of months away, but football fans in India might not be able to watch the world's biggest sporting event all together. Now, there is an absence of a television or digital partner for India despite FIFA lowering the rights from $100 million to $35 million. Now, this wasn't just for the 2026 World Cup, it was also for the 2030 edition. For some perspective, Network 18 paid $62 million the digital and television rights, but now it is almost half the price for not one, but two World Cups, and there are no baker Pardon me, there takers for this broadcast. The biggest problem that the broadcast are seeing is the timing of the matches in Indian Standard Time. Unlike the Qatar World Cup, which offered prime-time evening slots for Indian audiences, the 2026 matches will largely air between 12:30 a.m. and 7:00 a.m. Indian Standard Time. Now, that effectively wipes out mass-market advertising potential, making even the reduced $35 million price tag difficult to justify. Now, according to Economic Times, broadcasters are evaluating a figure around the $25 million mark. Compared to cricket, which is undoubtedly the biggest draw for broadcasters in Indian India, football doesn't offer many advertising opportunities with only the half-time break offering some space for advertisements. This is a relatively low-value deal, which is likely to be struck by one of the major players with FIFA closer to the tournament starting on June 11th.