Fox Corporation (NASDAQ:FOX) and Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) each shelled out over $400 million for the U.S. media rights to the 2026 World Cup. While Team USA is out of the tournament, both media companies have likely already won with huge ratings and advertising revenue.
Team USA World Cup Success
The 2026 World Cup has turned into a ratings success story for Fox and Comcast, one that could continue through the end of the tournament even with Team USA out of the running to win.
Fox paid a reported $485 million for the U.S. media rights for this year’s tournament, while Comcast paid an estimated $465 million for the Spanish language rights to air the games on Telemundo and stream on Peacock.
This year’s tournament has seen all three media companies set records with NFL-like ratings numbers, according to Variety.
A round-of-32 knockout game between the United States and Bosnia-Herzegovina was watched by an average of 26.4 million fans in English and 9.8 million in Spanish. The game peaked at an average of 34.8 million English-language fans.
This makes the game the most-watched English-language soccer game in the United States.
Team USA being in the tournament, along with Mexico and Canada, the other host nations, has likely helped produce strong viewership figures for Fox and Telemundo.
Monday’s matchup between the USA and Belgium could also produce some record-breaking numbers, but U.S. fans are, of course, upset about a 4-1 defeat to Belgium that ended this year’s promising run.
For Fox and Comcast this means no more USA games, which hurts viewership a bit, but the companies also likely paid for the rights based on this outcome.
Team USA was never a favorite to win this year’s World Cup and their finishing position is about where betting odds and prediction markets expected the team to end up.
The team made it out of the group stage and won a round-of-32 game, something new this year with the expansion to 48 teams. Team USA has lost in the round of 16 in four of the last five World Cups, with 2018 being the lone exception when the U.S. men’s soccer team failed to qualify for the tournament.
While Team USA turns to 2030 as their next chance at World Cup glory, Fox and Comcast could continue their impressive ratings and success.
USA Not the Only Ratings Win
For Fox and Comcast, it’s not just Team USA that is winning ratings.
"We’re seeing numbers for some of these matches that we don’t see for anything but the NFL," Fox Sports’ president of insight and analytics Michael Mulvihill told Variety.
Impressive games from favored countries like Argentina, France, and Spain have had strong ratings and games that have featured soccer superstars like Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Kylian Mbappe, and Erling Haaland.
Over the first 72 group-stage games, the average viewership on Fox was 5.05 million per game. Even smaller country games have had strong viewership, with reports of 6 million people watching Scotland vs. Haiti and 6.2 million watching Uruguay and Cape Verde.
The recent knockout game between Mexico and England, which England won 3-2, is on track to be the most-watched linear telecast in Spanish-language history in the U.S., according to a report from Deadline.
The game has a preliminary average audience of 23.1 million viewers on Telemundo.
Fox and Telemundo are winning outside of the U.S. games, and it’s likely to continue.
Keep in mind that this year’s expansion to 48 teams means 40 extra matches overall and an extra round of 32 in the knockout round, which saw some premier matchups. There are also mandatory hydration breaks during each half of every game, which sees Fox cut away to commercials for extra advertising opportunities.
Unlike other sports like football, baseball, and basketball, there aren’t as many commercial opportunities with only two halves and no time-outs, traditionally. This year’s World Cup gives Fox extra advertising opportunities.
Sportico estimates that the two media companies could see a combined $850 million in advertising spend during the 2026 World Cup. AdWeek previously reported that sponsorship packages were going for between $15 million and $50 million, with strong demand.
The 2022 World Cup championship game, which didn’t feature Team USA, set a viewership record with 25.78 million viewers.
This year’s tournament is likely to be a huge win for Fox and Comcast. Another name to watch is Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL).
Major League Soccer has often seen a boost in viewership around the World Cup. Apple has the rights to MLS games and could benefit from additional fans tuning into games after the World Cup is over.
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