2030 World Cup Television Rights Price Expected to Skyrocket

An exciting month of soccer hosted throughout North America has come to an end, and attention has already turned to the next edition of the most popular tournament on the planet.

The 2030 World Cup will be held in Spain, Portugal and Morocco, but the American broadcasting rights for which entity or streamer will bring the action to fans is still very much up in the air.

The only thing that seems certain is that it will cost a network, or a couple of networks, and exorbitant amount of money.

One report indicates that the bidding could start at $1 billion.

Bidding for the U.S. media rights to the 2030 FIFA World Cup could start at $1B, sources tell FOS.

After record ratings in 2026, FIFA enters its next media rights cycle with significant leverage.

— Front Office Sports (@FOS) July 8, 2026

“Fox and Telemundo will certainly want to retain the rights but lots of others, including the streamers, will go after a ‘must see’ property that can drive subscriber acquisition, retention and engagement. When a property becomes strategic, like the World Cup now has, that’s when you see dramatic increases,” said chief executive of Sports Media Advisors Doug Perlman.

Daniel Cohen is the executive vice president of Octagon’s media advisory team, and he thinks an English-Spanish language package deal could drive the price even higher.

“With ratings soaring across FOX and Telemundo the tournament is delivering on retransmission fees, on the cable side MVPDs recognize the value of FS1 more than ever when matches are played on cable, the digital consumption numbers are impressive, and advertisers are flocking to traditional media spend along with experiential and digital packages like never before. FIFA can go to market in the U.S., package the next 2 cycles together, and achieve a $3 billion result,” Cohen surmised.

FIFA might feel like it left some money on the table for the 2026 broadcast rights, as Fox Sports “only” paid $485 million. CEO Lachlan Murdoch said that he believed Fox would make a $50 million to $150 million profit from being having the English language U.S. rights.

Fox Sports has generated over 8 billion views on its social media accounts over the course of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

The network paid $485 million for the English-language broadcast rights to the tournament. pic.twitter.com/TDMse7r97o

— Front Office Sports (@FOS) July 9, 2026

The U.S. men’s soccer team bowed out of the World Cup in a round of 16 defeat to Belgium, but 30 million people were glued to the English language broadcast through Fox and related streamers. It also speaks to the hefty price tag networks can charge for advertisements, despite fewer stoppages of play in a soccer game as opposed to other sports.

Reports also indicate that newer players to the U.S. sports media landscape like Netflix, YouTube, Amazon and Apple all have varying degrees of interest in bidding for World Cup rights. Netflix already has an established relationship with FIFA, as it was awarded the rights to 2027 and 2031 Women’s World Cup.

While FIFA would seem to have most of the leverage given the popularity and the once-every-few-years anticipation that drives the excitement for their product, U.S. based media outlets might also have a little bit of leverage.

Ratings were sky high for several prime matchups during the 2026 World Cup, some of which involved the U.S., and some of which did not. A lot of that may have had to do with the convenient local time zone options for viewers, which would not be available to American fans when the 2030 World Cup is held in Western Europe and North Africa.

Negotiations for the next World Cup’s bidding rights are set to start in the next three months.

The 2030 FIFA World Cup Media Rights Bidding War
Category	Details
The Headline	The battle for the U.S. broadcasting rights to the 2030 FIFA World Cup is heating up, with industry experts projecting the cost to skyrocket to between $1.5 billion and $2 billion per tournament cycle.
The Bidders	Traditional heavyweights like Disney (ESPN) and Fox are expected to face fierce competition from streaming giants including Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, and YouTube.
The Precedent	Fox secured the English-language rights to the 2026 World Cup for a relatively low $485 million (often referred to as a "bargain basement" deal) after a non-competitive extension by FIFA.
The Revenue Potential	Broadcasters have heavily capitalized on "hydration breaks" (mandatory three-minute commercial windows), which generated an estimated $200 to $250 million in ad revenue for Fox alone during the most recent tournament.
The 2030 Landscape	The 2030 World Cup will feature a unique multi-continent format, with primary host duties shared by Morocco, Spain, and Portugal.
Future Bundling	FIFA may attempt to package both English and Spanish-language media rights together for 2030 and 2034, a move that could drive the starting bidding price up to an eye-popping $3 billion.