FIFA Opens Up Bidding for U.S. Rights to 2030 World Cup
FIFA has officially opened up the bidding process for the 2030 World Cup, bringing one of the sporting world’s premier events to the market, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.
FIFA launched an Invitation To Tender for the rights covering the U.S. and Puerto Rico Thursday for the games, which will be held in Portugal, Spain and Morocco. Bidders will also be able to secure rights to the 2034 World Cup in SaudiArabia as an option in the process.
The World Cup rights are widely expected to draw interest from a wide array of bidders, especially given the record-smashing viewership of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which were ratings bonanzas for U.S. rightsholders Fox and Telemundo (which held Spanish-language rights).
“The FIFA World Cup 2026 belonged to the fans. They turned every match into a celebration of football and culture, and the atmosphere in the stadiums extended to millions of households across the United States,” said FIFA Secretary General Mattias Grafström in a statement. “The next two FIFA World Cups will build on that momentum. We are looking for a partner who shares our commitment to innovation, who can bring every moment of the action to fans wherever and however they choose to watch, and who is committed to the next phase of football’s growth in North America.”
Fox is expected to be in the mix, while NBCUniversal (which owns Telemundo) is sure to look as well, perhaps at the entire package of rights. Disney’s ESPN has made no secret of its desire to bring the World Cup back to its platforms. And then there’s the Netflix’s Prime Videos and YouTubes of the world, with Netflix already securing World Cup rights in Spain for the 2030 games, and which will stream the Women’s World Cup in the U.S. next year.
“We are excited to see how the possible partners will react after this announcement, after the great success we all experienced for the last World Cup 2026,” FIFA chief business officer Romy Gai told reporters Thursday.
Gai added that the organization would prefer to sell both English and Spanish-language rights to one bidder, though they would be open to splitting them again if compelling cases were made. He also said that FIFA expected some joint bidders to emerge, perhaps with a streamer partnering with a broadcaster for matches.
Of course, less favorable time zones almost guarantee lower viewership for at least the next couple World Cups, but FIFA is nonetheless banking that this year’s event will juice interest stateside in four years time.
Gai said that given how important the U.S. is as a global market, FIFA would work with whoever the winning bidder is “in defining the best possible timing for the key matches,” including perhaops at least one match per day that would make for a compelling U.S. media window.
Fox paid less than $500 million for the last World Cup, a deal that in hindsight may have been the biggest sports bargain of all time. FIFA is said to be seeking to substantially improve on that number for 2030.
