Bidding for the U.S. media rights to the 2030 FIFA World Cup could start at $1 billion, sources tell Front Office Sports.
Fox Sports forged the last major steal in American sports when it scored English language media rights for the current men’s World Cup at the bargain basement price of $485 million. But with Fox pulling record TV ratings for the first American World Cup in 32 years, it’s now a seller’s market.
With multiple media bidders expected to drive up rights fees, FIFA is poised to score a massive payday as it auctions off rights to the 2030 men’s World Cup in Morocco, Spain, and Portugal, and the 2034 tournament in Saudi Arabia.
Doug Perlman, chief executive of Sports Media Advisors, declined to comment on specific dollar estimates. But he says there’s little doubt the Switzerland-based FIFA will have a strong bargaining position as it competes for media rights dollars with the NFL, MLB, NHL, and other North American leagues. A starting negotiating price of $1 billion would mark a 100%-plus price increase from the current tournament.
“There’s no question that FIFA is going to get a huge increase for its U.S. rights,” Perlman told FOS. “First of all, the rights fee for the current World Cup is well under market so they’ll be coming off a low base. Second, soccer generally and the World Cup specifically have driven tremendous value for numerous media companies. 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.”
