NEW DELHI, June 1: Zee Entertainment said on Monday that it had secured the rights to broadcast the 2026 FIFA World Cup football and 38 other FIFA events through 2034, ending a months-long standoff over the tournament’s availability in one of the world’s last unsold major markets.
Financial terms were not disclosed. FIFA had initially sought about $100 million for the India package covering the 2026 and 2030 World Cups before slashing its asking price to $60 million, media reports said. The agreement comes just 10 days before the tournament kicks off on June 11 across the United States, Canada and Mexico.
India’s dominant sports broadcaster JioStar, the Reliance-Disney joint venture that aired the 2022 World Cup through its predecessor Viacom18, had offered about $20 million for the rights but was rejected by FIFA. Sony, which held rights for the 2014 and 2018 tournaments, held discussions but did not bid.
With no broadcaster acquiring the broadcasting rights for months, the Delhi High Court on May 12, 2026, had asked the Centre and Prasar Bharati to respond to a petition seeking the broadcast of the FIFA World Cup 2026.
The petition by Avdhesh Bairwa, a lawyer, sought directions to the Central government to acquire the broadcasting rights for the opening match, quarterfinals, semi-finals, and the final in favour of Prasar Bharati as an interim measure. By way of final relief, the petitioner sought that rights should be acquired for all 104 matches.
FIFA has concluded agreements with broadcasters in more than 180 territories globally, it said previously. India accounted for 2.9% of the global linear TV reach of the World Cup in 2022.
(Manas Dasgupta)
