FIFA has formally launched its tender for the 2030 men's World Cup U.S. media rights, with a deadline for bids set for Nov. 19. The organization plans to select a winning partner before the end of the year and is offering potential buyers the option to also acquire rights for the 2034 World Cup.
FIFA Chief Business Officer Romy Gai stated that it is too early to gauge a realistic price for the 2030 tournament. While some media executives previously predicted rights could sell for between $1.5 billion and $2 billion, Gai emphasized that FIFA remains open to various deal structures. The organization is willing to accept offers from a single media company purchasing the entire package or from joint offerings, potentially involving a streamer and a traditional broadcaster.
In a departure from previous deals, FIFA prefers to sell English and Spanish-language rights packaged together to one partner. This approach contrasts with the recent 2026 World Cup, where NBCUniversal's Telemundo held the Spanish rights and Fox held the English rights. That split arrangement created tension between the broadcasters and FIFA, as Peacock carried Spanish-language content at a lower price than Fox One, which streamed games with English announcers.
Interest in the upcoming rights has been reported from several major platforms, including YouTube, Netflix, Amazon and Disney. For context, Fox paid $425 million for the 2026 World Cup, which broke U.S. ratings records with matches averaging 13.5 million viewers, a 166% increase from 2022.
The 2030 World Cup will be hosted in Spain, Portugal and Morocco, introducing significant time zone challenges compared to the 2026 event held in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. The 2034 World Cup will take place in Saudi Arabia, where Riyadh is seven hours ahead of New York. These time differences may limit games during U.S. primetime hours, potentially affecting how much media companies are willing to spend. However, Gai does not expect time zone challenges to heavily influence the bidding process, noting that matches will be scheduled to align with appropriate U.S. viewing times.
If a streaming service wins the rights, FIFA will ensure certain matches remain available for free. This could be achieved by forcing the streamer to sublicense specific rights or by placing games on a free version of the service if one exists. Netflix has already acquired 2030 World Cup rights in Spain under a deal that allows a free-to-air broadcaster to show at least one game daily.
Following the Nov. 19 bid deadline, a FIFA contingent is expected to travel to the U.S. around Thanksgiving to meet with media companies in person. At that stage, FIFA may narrow the field of contenders and request final bids or directly select a winner.