Hundreds of millions of World Cup fans won't see the World Cup due to broadcasting stalemate

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Martin Macdonald | Author

Potentially hundreds of millions of football fans won't be able to watch the World Cup in India and China this summer due to broadcasting issues in both countries.

The 2026 World Cup will be the biggest in history with 48 teams set to compete in the tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

With accessibility to matches and a huge increase in the number of fixtures, this could be the most viewed World Cup ever in terms of television viewing figures.

But, that might not be the case in China, who have made no official decision on who will broadcast matches and India, who are currently in a deadlock over broadcasting rights.

China and India have a combined population of nearly three billion people so no coverage in these countries would come as a blow to FIFA who are keen to emphasise the global nature of the tournament.

However, the ball is in FIFA's court as it is the governing body that rejected a $20 million offer from a Reliance-Disney joint venture to broadcast the World Cup in India. FIFA deemed the offer to be unacceptable, while Sony reportedly decided against a bid despite holding discussions this week, reports Reuters.

There are a few factors behind the lowball offer from Reliance-Disney, according to journalist Aditya Kalra, who wrote on X:

"India's newly merged media giant has offered just $20 million bid for 2026 World Cup broadcast rights -- a fraction of FIFA's ask. With matches airing past midnight IST, ad budgets hit by the Iran conflict, and cricket still king, the math simply doesn't work for them, sources tell Reuters

"Reliance-Disney has spent billions on cricket broadcast rights, but financials about FIFA rights not working for them."

FIFA are believed to be looking for $100m for the rights, an increase of $40m for the deal that was concluded for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

"Not much time is left but I won't call it a stalemate. It's more like we are at the end of a chess game with a couple of moves ​left," said Rohit Potphode, managing partner for sports at advertising agency Dentsu India.

India and China together accounted for 22.6% of ​total global digital streaming reach for that tournament four years ago.

When asked to comment, FIFA released a statement which said:

"Discussions in China and India regarding the sale ⁠of media rights for the FIFA World Cup 2026 are ongoing and must remain confidential at this stage."

The situation in China is more uncertain as, for the previous two World Cups, broadcaster CCTV earned the rights well in advance and promoted the tournament via advertisements in the weeks leading up to it commencing.

"Meanwhile China -- which accounted for nearly 50% of all digital World Cup viewing hours in 2022 -- has no deal either," Kaira continued on X.

"Together, the two countries represent over 22% of global World Cup streaming. Five weeks to kickoff. No broadcasters."

China has more football fans than any country in the world, around 200 million, but the nation's not participating in the tournament itself is believed to be an issue when it comes to broadcast negotiations, while the timing of matches is also a concern.