FIFA, the global governing body for soccer, has initiated a tender process for media rights to the 2026 and 2030 editions of its men’s national teams World Cup in Turkey. This move follows the exclusive coverage of the 2022 Men's World Cup matches in Qatar by Turkish public-service broadcaster TRT.
The tender covers both editions of this iconic tournament. The 2026 World Cup will be hosted across Mexico, the US, and Canada. Meanwhile, Spain, Portugal, and Morocco will predominantly host the 2030 edition with three games being staged in Uruguay, Argentina, and Paraguay.
Interested media networks and broadcasters can request invitation to tender documents by contacting turkiye-media-rights@fifa.org. Bids must be submitted by October 31 at 10:00 Central European Time.
Previous coverage deals
TRT exclusively covered the recent men's World Cup held in Qatar as part of an overall deal between FIFA and European Broadcasting Union (EBU) announced back in 2012. This agreement spanned over two editions -2018 and 2022- valued at €24 million (approximately $32 million at that time) according to GlobalData.
European qualifiers match for the expanded format of a total of sixteen slots available for European sides at a forty-eight team tournament are set to begin next March. It is noteworthy that Turkey has not qualified for a World Cup since their semi-final run back in 2002. TRT also provided coverage earlier this year during UEFA's Euro Championship where Turkey made it only up to group stages but no further.
In terms of recent media rights agreements concerning future world cups; Dutch public-service broadcaster NOS was announced as holding rights for both tournaments within Netherlands last September while Ireland has also opened a tender process for the same with a bid deadline of November 5.
FIFA's new strategy
In an unprecedented move, FIFA announced in June that it would be selling its media rights directly in the Asian market for the first time. Previously, these rights were sold on behalf of FIFA by sports marketing heavyweight Infront, which is now being used solely in an advisory capacity.
This new strategy marks a significant shift in how FIFA manages and sells its media rights, potentially leading to more direct engagement with broadcasters and networks worldwide.
