Will ESPN have the edge in World Cup bidding?
Will ESPN have the edge in World Cup bidding?
The 2030 FIFA World Cup rights are up for grabs, and ESPN could make a very compelling case to FIFA to host the tournament.
Soccer is unlikely to ever surpass football or even basketball in terms of popularity in the United States, but there is no doubt that, coming off the World Cup, the sport is continuing to reach wider audiences every year. The English Premier League, UEFA Champions League, and countless other international leagues have been growing their American audiences for years, and with the U.S. Men’s National Team winning its group and advancing to the Round of 16 this summer, the domestic popularity of international football seems primed for a period of remarkable growth.
Much to the dismay of fans (and the outlets broadcasting the tournament), the World Cup is over, but after seeing eye-popping ratings for the tournament’s final match on Fox, Telemundo, and their respective streaming arms, FIFA is undoubtedly hoping to capture American viewers as never before. It’s a critical moment for global soccer’s governing body, in which, if it plays its cards right, it can secure a huge, passionate fanbase that has thus far proven elusive. But to make sure Americans turn out for the next Men’s World Cup in the same way they showed up for the 2026 edition, FIFA has to nail its choice of which broadcaster will win the tournament’s media rights for 2030. There are reportedly already a ton of options interested in bidding, but I think ESPN may have the most compelling choice to make if the World Cup moves on from Fox.
There will be numerous factors that go into FIFA’s decision as to who will be its next American Men’s World Cup broadcast partner. Money will clearly be a huge one; FIFA is reportedly seeking as much as $4 billion for the rights to the 2030 tournament. Deep pockets will certainly be needed to get the 2030 World Cup, but big numbers won’t scare off the likes of Apple, Amazon, Netflix, and other platforms that are believed to have interest.
After seeing the ratings that the 2026 tournament received, one might think that programmers would pay any price for World Cup rights, but there’ll be a major drag on World Cup ratings in 2030 that wasn’t a factor during this year’s tournament. The 2030 World Cup will be primarily played at sites across Spain, Portugal, and Morocco, which are as many as six hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time. That means that many 2030 World Cup matches will kick off at times that are far less ideal for American audiences to watch, potentially before 7 a.m. in some cases.
Much of the responsibility for overcoming this difficulty will fall on whichever programmer wins the World Cup rights. I think ESPN is in a fantastic position to do this; its multi-platform ability to reach customers means that it can deploy a host of World Cup shoulder coverage to keep Americans engaged, even when matches aren’t at ideal times. The [ESPN app $] can be transformed into a personalized hub for World Cup coverage, with match data, schedules, and on-demand replays that are specifically curated based on each user’s preference. Viewers would be able to follow their favorite teams, set up push notifications from the ESPN app when important updates are available, and use other interactive features on the ESPN app.
And when it comes to the matches, ESPN has a formidable suite of channels and streaming services available to deploy games to. ESPN’s parent company Disney could air games on the ABC broadcast channel, ESPN, or ESPN2, which would give FIFA access to a multitude of broadcast windows to choose from as it plots out the tournament schedule. As the tournament progresses into the latter stages, channels like ESPNU and ESPNEWS can be used for MegaCast coverage as they are during the College Football Playoff, providing additional ways for viewers to engage with the tournament.
On the digital side, ESPN’s live event pages deploy features like passing accuracy, heat-maps, substitution history, and VAR decision updates so followers know exactly what’s happening.
From a streaming perspective, ESPN can air World Cup matches on the ESPN Unlimited direct-to-consumer service, which allows viewers to watch any live events on ABC or ESPN channels without a cable subscription. Disney has also been known to show a selection of marquee events from ESPN on Disney+ to reach a broad audience, and sending key World Cup matches to the platform seems like a natural step.
Even with recent layoffs, ESPN’s editorial strengths would be perfect for surrounding World Cup matches with analysis and other shoulder coverage. It certainly wouldn’t have any trouble assembling a list of talent to cover the tournament, and building more AI integrations into the ESPN app can produce personalized highlight reels and match recaps in minutes. If it really wanted to get creative, ESPN could use NFL Network assets for crossover coverage and play up the football vs. football angle.
Of course, multiple services can offer a tech-forward, personalized viewing experience for the World Cup. But it’s hard to imagine a service like Apple TV or Netflix completely transforming its interface to highlight the World Cup in nearly the same way that ESPN could. These established streaming brands already have a hard enough time helping users to discover new content, and could balk at the notion of a big UX makeover to put the World Cup front and center.
It’s also important to note that Apple TV, Netflix, and Prime Video have no broadcast or cable TV channels in the U.S. FIFA has turned to streamers like DAZN to broadcast the Club World Cup before, but is it really ready to move to a platform with no linear options? Major League Soccer executives can tell FIFA all about the perils of moving matches exclusively to streaming before the fanbase was ready to follow them there; last year, MLS and Apple opted to end their deal to stream all MLS games on Apple platforms three years ahead of the originally scheduled expiration date.
It’s hard to ignore that, despite the supposed disadvantages listed above, Netflix was able to secure the domestic broadcast rights for the 2027 and 2031 Women’s World Cups. But political pushback against putting live sports behind the streaming paywall is growing, and FIFA may well want to avoid blowback from fans, and even legislators, for choosing Netflix as its Men’s World Cup partner.
To be sure, Fox remains a formidable opponent to ESPN in the fight for the World Cup rights. Like ESPN, it has multiple broadcast and cable channels to schedule World Cup games on, as well as a direct-to-consumer service that viewers can use to watch matches without pay TV in Fox One. That service added 3 million new customers during the 2026 FIFA World Cup, showing fans will indeed follow games to digital platforms when available.
But other major linear sports distributors in the United States, like CBS, NBC, and TNT may have a hard time making a serious pursuit of the World Cup. That’s not to say that soccer has no place on these platforms; TNT Sports is the domestic partner of U.S. Soccer, while NBC is home to the English Premier League stateside, and its Spanish-language sibling network Telemundo had a resounding success broadcasting the event this summer. CBS also offers a multitude of international soccer, including the crown jewel of its collection, the UEFA Champions League.
Still, none is in a particularly advantageous position to spend billions of dollars on World Cup rights at the moment. CBS and NBC both have negotiations with the NFL coming (as does ESPN and Fox), and the league is seeking a big raise for its broadcast rights. And that’s before entering into a discussion of what the networks’ parent companies are currently up to; Paramount, which owns CBS, is in the process of a $110 billion purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery, and NBCUniversal will begin the separation process from its corporate overlord, Comcast, later this year.
TNT Sports is stuck in its own limbo; if it is acquired by Paramount, its new parent company won’t have a ton of extra money left over to be spending on World Cup rights. If that merger ends up being derailed by one of several lawsuits now aimed at it, TNT Sports was https://thestreamable.com/to be included in a list of cable assets spun off from Warner Bros. Discovery’s studio and streaming segments in a move planned before the Paramount merger took shape. Either way, TNT Sports would be in a markedly disadvantageous spot to make a play for World Cup rights.
While ESPN is far from free of the financial worries that other outlets must navigate, the power of owning the rights to the Men’s World Cup might be too big a draw for Disney to turn down. The Worldwide Leader in Sports is a well-recognized brand that can use a multiplatform approach to deliver the World Cup and all the content that comes with it. ESPN’s chairman has already confirmed it will be making a bid on the 2030 World Cup, and if FIFA really wants to take advantage of America’s soccer fever, it should give that bid a very long look.
ESPN Unlimited
ESPN launched its highly anticipated direct-to-consumer streaming service on August 21, 2025. For the first time, this service gives sports fans access to its full lineup of linear channels without a traditional cable or satellite subscription.