Following reports that FIFA is expected to begin talks on the U.S. broadcast rights for its next two men’s World Cups later this year, top executives at Fox Sports and ESPN expressed strong interest in those rights.
In a panel discussion with CNBC this week in New York City, ESPN chair Jimmy Pitaro said “of course” the Worldwide Leader expects to compete for rights to the World Cup, which he called a “juggernaut.”
ESPN held U.S. rights to the tournament from 1994 to 2014, after which it awarded rights to Fox Sports in a highly controversial process, in which it did not seek out additional bids.
Still, Pitaro was complimentary of Fox’s presentation of this year’s World Cup, which was hosted on home soil in North America. Pitaro said he has been “very impressed” with Fox’s coverage from top to bottom, adding, “I don’t know, honestly, how they could have done better with the product.”
In a separate interview with Sports Business Journal released Friday, Fox Sports president and executive producer Brad Zager echoed that his network is “absolutely” hoping to retain rights for the 2030 and 2034 tournaments, which will be hosted by Spain, Portugal, and Morocco, and Saudi Arabia, respectively.
Zager called the World Cup a “signature” building block for Fox Sports, and confirmed Fox will be part of negotiations when they begin.
However, the looming presence of Netflix remains the biggest story in what will soon become a bidding war for the World Cup. Even before Fox blew through expectations with massive viewership this summer, Netflix executives openly coveted the men’s World Cup after winning U.S. rights to the women’s tournament in 2027 and 2031.
Recently, CNBC also reported that FIFA is expected to package the English-language rights, currently given to Fox, and the Spanish-language rights, currently given to NBC Universal-owned Telemundo, together for future World Cups. The association is expected to ask for between $1.5 billion and $2 billion annually, a significant increase from the combined value of Fox and Telemundo’s current deals.
An expanded, 64-team field could force FIFA to explore multiple broadcast partners, should more early-round matches overlap.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.