FIFA Bypasses Bidding, Awards 2026 World Cup U.S. Rights to FOX & Telemundo

ZURICH: Opting to forego a formal bidding process, FIFA has extended its media rights agreements for World Cup coverage in the U.S. with FOX and Telemundo.

The extensions give FOX English-language U.S. rights and Telemundo Spanish-language U.S. rights. In Canada, CTV/TSN has extended its pact for the exclusive broadcast rights to FIFA competitions during this period. The extended agreements cover the following tournaments in addition to the 2026 FIFA World Cup: FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023, FIFA U-20 World Cup 2023 and 2025, FIFA U-17 World Cup 2023 and 2025, FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup 2023 and 2025, FIFA Futsal World Cup 2024, FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup 2024 and 2026, FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup 2024 and 2026, and FIFA Confederations Cup 2025.

FIFA's director of TV, Niclas Ericson, said: “These agreements guarantee wide distribution for FIFA tournaments across the U.S. and Canada. Together, we will be able to further promote football in North America and build on the impressive interest shown by audiences in these major territories during the 2014 FIFA World Cup.”

“We’re very pleased that FIFA allowed us to extend our deal as the exclusive U.S. Spanish-language broadcaster of FIFA World Cup tournaments through 2026,” commented Joe Uva, the chairman of Hispanic enterprises and content at NBCUniversal. “This unprecedented agreement gives our Telemundo and NBC Universo viewers and digital consumers more of the world’s best soccer for the next 12 years."