On June 11, the 2026 World Cup kicks off. Forty-eight nations. One hundred and four matches. The United States, Canada, and Mexico as hosts. Billions of viewers worldwide transfixed by the planet’s greatest sporting spectacle.
And in India — the world’s most populous country, home to over 1.4 billion people — there is, as of now, not a single official broadcaster to show it.
India is not alone in this predicament. China, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, and Sri Lanka also remain without confirmed broadcast deals as the tournament approaches. But the absence of a broadcaster in India, a market of extraordinary scale and growing sports consumption, is perhaps the most significant and surprising gap of all.
How did the biggest sporting event on earth end up without a home on Indian screens? The answer involves timing, money, market structure, cricket, and the changing economics of sports broadcasting.
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The Numbers: Why World’s Biggest Event Has No Home in India
The scale of the 2026 World Cup is unprecedented. The expanded 48-team format means 104 matches — a significant jump from the 64 played in Qatar in 2022. The tournament will be broadcast to billions across the globe, with major deals already secured in most territories.
| 2026 World Cup Key Details | Figures |
|---|---|
| Number of Teams | 48 |
| Total Matches | 104 |
| Host Nations | USA, Canada, Mexico |
| Kick-off Date | June 11, 2026 |
| Final Date | July 19, 2026 |
| FIFA Projected Broadcast Revenue | $3.9 billion |
| India Rights Asking Price (Initial) | $100 million |
| India Rights Asking Price (Revised) | $35 million |
FIFA launched the process to sell media rights for the next two Men’s FIFA World Cups and the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup in India in July 2025. The initial asking price of $100 million was reportedly slashed dramatically to $35 million. Yet no buyers came forward.
For context, Viacom18 — now part of the JioStar fold — paid $62 million for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. In 2013, Sony Sports spent $90 million on a package that covered the 2014 and 2018 World Cups, the 2016 Euros, the 2017 U-17 World Cup, and the Confederation Cup. The revised $35 million asking price is significantly below both of those figures, and yet the market has failed to respond.
Reason One: The Match Timing Problem
If there is a single factor most responsible for the broadcast impasse, it is timing. The 2026 World Cup is hosted in North America, and the time zone difference with India is brutal.
The opening fixture — Mexico versus South Africa in Mexico City — will begin at 12:30 am Indian Standard Time. The final at New Jersey Stadium on July 19 will also kick off at 12:30 am. Across the entire tournament, only 14 of the 104 matches will begin before midnight in India.
| World Cup | Matches Starting Before Midnight in India |
|---|---|
| Russia 2018 | 63 of 64 |
| Qatar 2022 | 44 of 64 |
| USA/Canada/Mexico 2026 | 14 of 104 |
The contrast with previous editions is stark. In 2018, 63 of 64 matches started before midnight in India. In 2022, 44 of 64 did. This time, the figure collapses to just 14 of 104 — a catastrophic reduction in prime-time viewing opportunity.
“The timings are odd. US timings will be tough for India. When we had rights for West Indies Cricket, people watched highlights more than they watched live matches,” said Neeraj Jha, Head of Sports Business for India and South Asia at Warner Bros. Discovery.
Late-night scheduling does not just reduce viewership numbers. In India, where sports broadcasting is heavily reliant on advertising revenue rather than subscriptions, it fundamentally undermines the commercial model. Football already offers fewer natural advertising breaks than cricket. FIFA has created mandatory three-minute hydration breaks in both halves to help broadcasters, but the structural challenge of advertising around matches that begin after midnight remains formidable.
Reason Two: A Shrinking Pool of Buyers
The merger of Star India and Viacom18 into JioStar has significantly reduced the number of major players capable of bidding for large-scale sports rights in the Indian market. Fewer bidders means less competitive pressure on pricing — and less incentive for sellers to find a mutually acceptable deal quickly.
Sony Pictures Network India, which holds rights to the UEFA Champions League, the Euros, and multiple other football properties, has stayed away entirely. A strong US dollar against the Indian rupee has added further commercial caution to an already hesitant market.
The broader trend in non-cricket sports rights is also concerning. The English Premier League rights in India were sold for $145 million for three seasons between 2013 and 2016. The most recent deal, covering 2025 to 2028, was agreed at $65 million — a 55.17% decline. LaLiga broadcast rights have bounced between multiple platforms before settling on FanCode. The trajectory for football rights in India has been downward.
Reason Three: Cricket’s Dominance — and Terrible Timing
The 2026 World Cup kicks off less than two weeks after the IPL concludes. That timing is damaging in a market where cricket is not merely popular but overwhelmingly dominant.
WPP Media’s India Sports Sponsorship Report 2025 confirmed that the Indian sports industry doubled in value between 2021 and 2025 — but the non-cricket market accounted for just 11% of that total. Brands concentrate their advertising budgets on cricket. By the time the World Cup begins in June, many of those budgets are exhausted.
Rohit Potphode, Managing Partner for Sports, Gaming, eSports and Live Experiences at Dentsu India, offered a candid assessment of the structural reality.
“India is a low ARPU (Average Revenue per User) market for sports, gaming and anywhere with an upfront subscription. The picture appears more nuanced than a simple lack of takers. Broadcasters are likely weighing a combination of structural and commercial considerations. Brands want to spend where the eyeballs are and eyeballs are currently on cricket.”
He added that the fading of the Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo era — which had provided a genuine star-power hook for Indian football fans — and a period of recalibration at the All India Football Federation (AIFF) were compounding factors on the commercial side.
What About the 2022 Model?
The 2022 Qatar World Cup offers a cautionary tale about the Indian broadcast market. JioCinema broadcast the tournament for free. Sports18 HD showed it for just ₹12. The result was that linear television viewers migrated to digital en masse, and advertising revenue followed.
In the UK, the World Cup is available on BBC and ITV as free-to-air television, embedded within the public broadcasting framework. In the US, the 2026 World Cup will cost at least $19.99 on Fox One. India’s market dynamics — low subscription tolerance, advertising dependence, digital migration — make the commercial arithmetic particularly challenging for any broadcaster considering a bid.
FIFA’s Perspective: Short-Term Loss, Long-Term Vision
From FIFA’s standpoint, the Indian market represents less than 1% of projected global broadcast revenue. FIFA budgeted $3.9 billion from broadcast rights for the 2026 edition. At $35 million for the Indian deal, the financial impact of no sale is minimal to the overall commercial picture.
But Potphode argues that the real risk is not financial — it is strategic.
“They’re not looking just this year, the next year or the year after that; they’re looking at a 10-year horizon. There might be a potential loss of funds or revenue in the short term. But this is not affecting the bottom line. They are in the green. Money is not a concern. It is about staying strong and building it out for the next 10 years instead of just seeing the next few years.”
FIFA already has FIFA+ as a direct-to-consumer platform — a fallback option that would allow Indian viewers some form of access even without a local broadcaster. But FIFA has been clear that it has no intention of underselling its properties or diluting the equity it has built in the market.
What Happens Next?
Industry insiders believe JioStar remains the most likely candidate to acquire the rights, with the platform reportedly waiting for the asking price to drop to a figure that makes commercial sense given their distribution strength and streaming capability.
A last-ditch option involves Doordarshan, India’s public broadcaster, which showed the 1998 World Cup in France. However, this would require a primary broadcaster to step in first and share rights. It also raises a legal question: under the Sports Broadcasting Signals (Mandatory Sharing with Prasar Bharati) Act, a tournament must constitute an event of national importance to trigger mandatory sharing — a designation that applies with difficulty to a World Cup in which India does not participate. At best, semi-finals and the final might qualify.
The deadline for the final bid has passed, though an extension remains possible. Any deal concluded later than approximately one week from now would leave insufficient time for meaningful marketing and broadcast preparation.
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FAQs
Why does India not have a broadcaster for the 2026 World Cup?
A combination of late-night match timings due to the North American host time zone, a reduced pool of bidders following market consolidation, cricket’s dominance of advertising budgets, and commercial uncertainty have all contributed to the absence of a broadcast deal in India.
How many 2026 World Cup matches will start before midnight in India?
Only 14 of the 104 matches at the 2026 World Cup will begin before midnight in India — compared to 44 of 64 in Qatar 2022 and 63 of 64 in Russia 2018.
What was the asking price for 2026 World Cup broadcast rights in India?
FIFA initially asked $100 million for the Indian broadcast rights. The asking price was reportedly reduced significantly to $35 million, but no broadcaster has come forward as of the time of writing.
Could Doordarshan broadcast the 2026 World Cup in India?
Doordarshan has been discussed as a last-resort option, but it would require a primary broadcaster to first acquire rights and then share them. Legal questions also exist around whether the tournament qualifies as an event of national importance under Indian broadcasting law since India is not participating.
What is FIFA doing to ensure Indian fans can still access the 2026 World Cup?
FIFA has its own direct-to-consumer platform, FIFA+, which could serve as a fallback option for Indian viewers if no local broadcaster acquires the rights. However, FIFA has stated it will not undersell its properties and is prioritising long-term market equity over a short-term deal at any price.
