Zee will broadcast the 2026 and 2030 World Cups and the 2027 Women’s World Cup among the 39 FIFA tournaments till 2034.
Published June 2, 2026
FIFA has struck a deal with India’s Zee Entertainment to broadcast the World Cup in the country, ending a months-long standoff over hosting the tournament in one of the last major markets where rights remained unsold.
Financial terms of the package signed Monday were not disclosed, but FIFA reportedly sought around $100 million for the 2026 and 2030 tournaments before lowering the offer to $60 million.
The deal gives Zee a foothold in India’s sports broadcasting market, with Geostar, a joint venture between Reliance and Disney, holding rights to the Indian Premier League cricket tournament to the English Premier League.
This includes 39 FIFA events spanning eight years up to 2034, including the 2027 Women’s World Cup, according to a joint statement from FIFA and Gee.
On the day following the announcement, Zee’s stock price rose by around 7%.
The agreement was signed just 10 days before the tournament opens on June 11 in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Experts told Al Jazeera last month that kick-off times for most games were a top concern for Indian broadcasters, as many games are played at odd times for Indian viewers and there is a 10- to 12-hour time difference between host cities and the South Asian country.
Of the 104 World Cup matches, only 14 will start before midnight for Indian fans.
The final will be held on July 19th in New Jersey, starting at 12:30am (7pm GMT) in India. By comparison, 98.4 percent of matches at the 2018 World Cup started before midnight, and 82.5 percent at the upcoming Qatar tournament.
Karan Taurani, executive vice president at investment firm Elara Capital, considers television a “struggling” medium in India.
“When you organize a sporting event of this kind, the monetization and the huge amount of fundraising is effectively mostly digital,” Taurani told Al Jazeera. “That’s a big reason why no one is interested in the FIFA World Cup.”
Mr. Taurani explained that cricket leads the sports economic market in India.
“Only a small portion of those who watch the Indian Premier League (IPL) will watch the FIFA World Cup,” he said, adding that even fewer people tune in to watch matches after midnight.
Viacom18 paid about $60 million for the rights to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar in a time zone that is much more favorable to Indian viewers. Most of this year’s games will be shown late at night in India due to the time difference, discouraging broadcasters and complicating FIFA’s marketing efforts.
