FIFA has rejected a Reliance-Disney joint venture offer of $20 million for the 2026 FIFA World Cup broadcast rights, a fraction of FIFA’s ask. This means millions of soccer fans in the world’s most populous nation may not be able to watch the World Cup that starts next month, due to a deadlock over broadcast rights in India.
As per a Reuters report, alongside Reliance-Disney JV, Sony, too, held talks, however, decided not to make an offer for the expensive rights for India.
China, too, remains indecisive over the highly valued FIFA asset. China, which FIFA says accounted for 49.8% of all hours of viewing on digital and social platforms globally during the 2022 World Cup.
FIFA has concluded agreements with broadcasters in over 175 territories globally, it said in a statement to Reuters. “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 statement said.
Reliance-Disney, a joint venture led by billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance, did not respond to requests for comment as per the report, and neither did Sony.
The lack of a confirmed broadcast agreement with India or China is unusual at this stage. In past World Cups, including 2018 and 2022, Chinese state broadcaster CCTV secured the rights well in advance and began airing promotional content and sponsor-driven advertisements weeks before the tournament. CCTV, which has extensive reach across television and digital platforms, did not immediately return a request for comment. China accounted for 17.7% and India 2.9% of the global linear TV reach for the 2022 tournament. The two countries together accounted for 22.6% of the total global digital streaming reach for that World Cup.
The 2026 tournament kicks off on June 11, leaving barely five weeks for a deal to be finalised, broadcast infrastructure to be set up and advertising inventory to be sold.
HUGE SOCCER FOLLOWING IN INDIA, CHINA
For India, FIFA initially sought $100 million for broadcast rights for the 2026 and 2030 World Cups, the sources said, declining to be named because the talks are private. When the World Cup last aired in India in 2022, Reliance’s then-standalone media arm secured the rights for about $60 million, which was announced around 14 months before the event in Qatar.
“FIFA is looking for a similar amount for this edition of the tournament,” said a FIFA source.
Reliance and Disney have since formed a joint venture to emerge as a dominant force in India’s media and streaming landscape, and the $20 million FIFA offer underscores the negotiating power the Indian group commands. The report adds that FIFA had significantly lowered its ask from the $100 million earlier, but has not been keen on the $20 million figure Reliance offered.
Reliance-Disney, which has spent billions on cricket broadcast rights, believes the World Cup will have lower viewership in India as the tournament is being held in the United States, Canada and Mexico, and most matches will air past midnight in India. China has around 200 million soccer fans, more than any other country, but has failed to build world-class teams, partly due to a top-down approach where clubs pick players from a very small pool of pre-screened candidates.
– Ends
