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.
