The 2026 Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup in North America opens in five weeks, but unprecedented deadlock has arisen in broadcast-rights negotiations with China and India, the world's two most populous countries.
Reuters and Chinese media reported on the 6th (Korean time) that FIFA has completed broadcast-rights deals with more than 175 territories worldwide, but negotiations with only China and India are still ongoing.
FIFA said in a statement, "Discussions with China and India regarding the sale of media rights for the 2026 FIFA World Cup are ongoing, and at this stage the discussions must remain confidential."
The absence of the Chinese market would be especially damaging to FIFA. According to FIFA statistics, China accounted for 49.8% of global digital and social platform viewing time during the 2022 Qatar tournament. But this time FIFA's demand for an "astronomical amount" is holding things up.
According to the Beijing Daily, FIFA originally sought an amount ranging from $250 million to $300 million for China Central Television (CCTV).
That far exceeds CCTV's budget of $60 million to $80 million. FIFA later lowered the price to $120 million to $150 million, but the gap between the two sides' positions still has not narrowed.
A controversy over "discriminatory treatment" has also erupted. The two-tournament package (2026 and 2030 World Cups) offered to India by FIFA was only $35 million. That is one-tenth of the amount demanded of China.
The media emphasized that World Cup broadcast-rights fees in China have soared over the past 20 years. The two-tournament package for 2010 and 2014 was $115 million, and the 2018 and 2022 packages were about $300 million.
Chinese sponsors have already invested more than $500 million in this World Cup. If broadcasting falls through, not only will Chinese corporations suffer losses, but FIFA's future marketing competitiveness is also expected to be seriously undermined.
But experts see a high likelihood of a dramatic compromise. Sports media expert Yan Chang predicted, "Considering FIFA's global market and viewing data, market commercialization and the importance of public opinion about the World Cup in China, the two sides will ultimately reach a compromise."
The tournament opens on June 11. Only five weeks remain for infrastructure building and ad sales.
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