FIFA officials visit India as World Cup broadcast talks remain unresolved

NEW DELHI: With less than a month left for the kickoff of the FIFA World Cup 2026, FIFA officials handling media rights are visiting India this week as negotiations over the tournament’s broadcast deal remain stuck over pricing, according to sources familiar with the matter.

The visit comes at a crucial moment for football fans and broadcasters alike, with no television or streaming agreement yet announced for India, one of the world’s largest media markets and home to an estimated 85 million football followers.

According to a report by Reuters, discussions between FIFA and India’s biggest media players have failed to produce an agreement so far, raising the possibility that fans could face uncertainty over access to the tournament if a deal is not finalised soon.

In a statement to Reuters, FIFA said it had already concluded broadcast agreements across more than 180 territories globally and that discussions in India regarding media rights were ongoing and confidential.

The standoff appears to centre on valuation expectations. Earlier negotiations reportedly saw the Reliance-Disney joint venture offer around $20 million for the rights, while FIFA had initially sought nearly $100 million before lowering expectations closer to the $60 million mark.

The joint venture between Reliance Industries and The Walt Disney Company has not publicly commented on the talks. It also remains unclear whether FIFA officials are directly meeting executives from the merged entity during the India visit.

Meanwhile, Sony Group Corporation, another major sports broadcasting player in India, is understood to have stayed away from the bidding process.

The timing has added urgency to the negotiations. The tournament is scheduled to begin on June 11, leaving broadcasters with barely three weeks to complete technical integration, roll out marketing campaigns and monetise advertising inventory if a deal is signed at the last minute.

The situation mirrors recent developments in China, where China Media Group only recently secured a World Cup broadcasting agreement after prolonged negotiations.

Although football remains far behind cricket in India’s sports pecking order, the audience base is still substantial. A 2024 study by Deloitte and Google estimated India’s football fan base at around 85 million, compared with cricket’s massive 492 million followers.

India also contributed 2.9 per cent of the global linear television reach during the 2022 FIFA World Cup, underlining the country’s growing strategic value for global sporting events and advertisers.

For FIFA, the India negotiations are not just about rights revenue but also about securing visibility in one of the fastest-growing digital consumption markets in the world. For broadcasters, however, the economics of football remain tricky in a cricket-dominated ecosystem where advertising returns are often measured against IPL-sized benchmarks.

As the countdown to kickoff enters its final stretch, FIFA’s India broadcast talks seem headed into football territory of their own: deep into stoppage time.