Fox And Comcast Eye Record Ad Revenue From World Cup
Madison Avenue has already picked its winners, and the World Cup hasn’t kicked off yet. This tournament marks the first US return since 1994, with FIFA’s expanded 48-team format giving Fox and Comcast’s Telemundo far more airtime to sell. Both are positioning the event as a record ad-revenue moment for investors to watch.
- Fox Sport’s CEO called the World Cup “our largest production ever” — targeting 150M total viewers from the 104 matches, split across broadcast and streaming.
- Meanwhile, Telemundo has already sold out its World Cup ad inventory — after averaging 2.58M viewers per match during the 2022 tournament.
The hidden edge: Even so, one of these winners had a head start. Back in 2014, FIFA handed Fox the US English-language World Cup rights for $500M, about a third of their current market value, as a makeup for shifting the Qatar tournament to winter. That deal means more of this year’s $10.5B in projected global ad spending flows straight to Fox’s bottom line. Comcast’s payoff works differently, with Peacock’s $8 monthly fee positioned to turn soccer fever into a steady stream of new subscribers. Either way, call it a win before the opening whistle.
