football extravaganza
There may be bad news for football fans in India. There is not much time left for the start of FIFA World Cup 2026, but till now no firm agreement has been reached regarding its telecast in India. The reason for this is that the deal between FIFA and JioHotstar has not been finalized.
What happened in the conversation?
According to the report, JioHotstar offered around $20 million for the broadcast rights of World Cup 2026, which is much less than FIFA’s demand. FIFA wanted around $100 million, so the deal could not be made. Sony also held talks, but they also refused to make the offer.
How much was the deal done earlier?
Jio Cinema had bought the rights for the 2022 Qatar World Cup for about $60 million. This time also FIFA wants around this amount, but the companies do not seem ready to spend this much.
Why is deal difficult in India?
Many reasons are being given behind this. The matches will be held in America, Canada and Mexico, which will be telecast late night in India. Slowdown in the advertising market, football in India is still considered a game of limited audience. For this reason companies are avoiding investing more money.
Same situation in China also
Not only in India, no broadcast deal for the World Cup has been finalized yet in China too. Earlier CCTV used to purchase the rights there in advance, but this time it did not happen.
What next?
FIFA says that talks are still going on in both India and China. Broadcast deals have been signed in more than 175 countries around the world. The tournament is to start from June 11, so a big decision on this can be taken in the coming days.
