John Skipper calls out Gianni Infantino over World Cup hydration breaks: ‘He is so full of sh*t’

For years, John Skipper’s job as the head of ESPN was to find the line between audience enjoyment and financial gain. As much as anyone, he is someone who understands that if you’re going to show sports on television, you gotta make a buck while doing it.

And even he thinks FIFA’s World Cup hydration breaks are “bullsh*t.”

Ever since it was announced that mid-half hydration breaks would take place during 2026 World Cup matches, despite many of the matches being played in average weather or in climate-controlled stadiums, it’s been obvious to anyone that the intention was to create commercial space first and foremost. FIFA tried to thread the needle by saying that it was up to local broadcasters whether or not they wanted to cut away to commercial or remain with the game during that time.

After playing coy for as long as they could, U.S. English-language rightsholder Fox was happy to immediately use that space for ads (unlike Telemundo), although they messed up on the first one, returning to game action late. Despite complaints from purists, it quickly became clear how lucrative these breaks were. Now that they’ve been accepted as part of the broadcast, it seems they’re here to stay, especially as viewership (and ad rates) rise.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino, for his part, continues to swear that FIFA has no financial interest in hydration breaks and that they exist purely as a “sporting matter.”

Skipper, appearing on Pablo Torre Finds Out, isn’t buying that.

“He is so full of sh*t,” he said.

Fox could stand to make upwards of $500 million during FIFA’s new “hydration breaks.”

Gianni Infantino says the breaks are “purely a sporting matter.”

“He is so full of s**t.” pic.twitter.com/mUXfbFwEzf

— Pablo Torre Finds Out (@pablofindsout) July 5, 2026

The former ESPN and Meadowlark Media head offered his further thoughts on why the hydration breaks have no reason to exist other than as a financial tool.

“These guys are not going to keel over. They can grab the bottles as they go past. They can pour it on their heads. They could take a 30-second break,” said Skipper. “This is a way to get an ad break in the first half and an ad break in the second half. We might see the innovation where they have two hydration breaks, or they might just decide it’s okay. We’ll stop after 20 minutes. The coaches can talk to the players. But it’s bullsh*t that this is about hydration. This is about commercials. And Fox was sure ready to go with their commercials on the very first hydration break. Bang, there’s a commercial. And bang, they don’t get back in time for the action.

“… I’ll give Fox credit. Fox knows how to make money.”

Torre then brought up the reporting numbers flying around about how much Fox is making off of hydration break commercials, with The Hollywood Reporter reporting the average cost of a 30-second spot is between $200,000 and $750,000, which eventually adds up to somewhere around half a billion dollars.

“I assume that the sales force is in the market now telling people what the hydration breaks in the final will cost, and that will be a seven-figure sum of money,” replied Skipper. “It’ll cost $1 million apiece.”

Torre then asked Skipper whether he found that impressive, to which the former sports media executive replied that he did not.

“I don’t think that’s an innovation that makes the game better,” he said. “All it does is create more revenue for a corrupt organization that is a nonprofit, as I always remind people, with a nonprofit with billions of dollars in the bank and executives, all of whom have a very good-sized boat.