FIFA has begun soliciting bids for the 2026 Men's World Cup broadcast rights, with advisors close to the process expecting aggregate global deals to clear $2 billion—nearly double the $1.1 billion generated in the 2022 cycle. The difference: 48 teams instead of 32, 104 matches instead of 64, and kickoff times calibrated for primetime in New York, Los Angeles, and Mexico City.
The previous U.S. rights holder, Fox, paid $425 million in 2015 for both the 2018 and 2022 tournaments combined. This time, the North American package—covering the U.S., Canada, and Mexico—will be sold separately, and internal FIFA projections put the U.S. component alone north of $600 million. Fox, NBC, ESPN, and Amazon are expected to submit proposals by late August. Apple has been circling but has not confirmed participation.
The economics shift because the tournament is no longer a 3am watch party. All knockout-stage matches will be scheduled after 5pm ET, and the final is confirmed for 3pm on a Sunday in New Jersey. That changes the comp set. Instead of comparing against international soccer broadcasts, bidders are now benchmarking against NFL conference championship windows and NBA Finals audiences. Fox's 2022 final—Argentina-France—averaged 16.8 million U.S. viewers despite a noon Sunday kickoff in December. FIFA's internal model assumes a 25-million-viewer final in 2026, which would make it the most-watched soccer match in U.S. television history and justify a 40% premium over typical pay-per-match calculations.
The ripple matters for club leagues and federation deals renewing in the next 18 months. If a co-hosted World Cup can command NFL-adjacent pricing, then Liga MX's next cycle—currently under negotiation with Univision and TUDN—will recalibrate upward. MLS is already positioning its 2027 rights renewal around the assumption that Apple will use World Cup momentum to justify higher subscription tiers for MLS Season Pass. One senior media buyer described the dynamic as "trickle-up"—the World Cup sets the ceiling, and then club properties argue they deliver 60 weekends a year instead of one month.
Outside North America, the auction is proceeding more quietly but with comparable stakes. The European broadcast package—historically dominated by the EBU consortium—will be broken into sub-regional blocks for the first time. Sky, DAZN, and beIN are expected to compete for exclusive English and German-language windows. In Asia, the 2022 rights sold for $480 million across all territories; FIFA is asking $720 million this cycle, citing the time-zone advantage for East Asian audiences during West Coast matches.
The question FIFA has not resolved: whether to require minimum levels of free-to-air coverage in each market. The IOC's Olympic model mandates that at least 200 hours of coverage remain on broadcast television in major territories, which limits how much a streamer can wall off. FIFA's current draft terms include no such floor, which would allow a bidder like Amazon or Apple to put every match behind a paywall. That is causing friction with European regulators, particularly in Germany and France, where World Cup matches have traditionally been considered events of "national importance" requiring public access. One federation official told colleagues the sticking point could delay European deals until October.
Three events to track: Fox's counterbid strategy will become clear when it submits financials by August 30. If the number is below $550 million, ESPN will interpret that as a signal Fox is exiting marquee soccer and redirect resources toward UEFA club competitions. The Liga MX renewal window closes September 15, and the final number will either validate or puncture FIFA's pricing assumptions. And Sky's exclusive negotiating period for the UK sublicense ends October 1; if it lapses without a deal, DAZN and Amazon can enter, likely pushing the price past £150 million for a market that paid £90 million in 2022.
FIFA has scheduled a September board meeting in Zurich where media projections will be formally updated. If North American bids come in above $700 million, the organization will revise upward its 2027-2030 revenue forecast and accelerate discussions about expanding the 2030 tournament to 64 teams. The bidding closes in November, but the real deadline is the first match in Mexico City on June 11, 2026, by which point every deal will have been signed, every paywall configured, and every network will know whether it overpaid.
The takeaway
FIFA's 2026 auction will reset soccer media pricing globally, with U.S. rights alone expected to exceed **$600 million** and force MLS, Liga MX, and European leagues to recalibrate their own renewals upward.
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