Football fans in India are heaving a huge collective sigh of relief after Zee Entertainment announced a deal to broadcast the World Cup, less than 10 days before the start of the tournament.
The deal between Zee and Fifa ends a months-long standoff over the tournament’s availability in one of the last major markets where rights remained unsold. A deal to broadcast the World Cup in China was finally agreed in mid-May.
While neither side has made public the terms of the broadcasting deal in India, it is estimated to be valued at between $30m and $35m, according to SportStar.
Fifa had initially sought about $100m for the India package covering the 2026 and 2030 World Cups before slashing its asking price to $60 million.
“We are excited to bring one of the world’s biggest sporting spectacles to Indian audiences,” said Punit Goenka, the chief executive of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. “Football cuts across regions and demographics, and the investments in garnering the media rights and launching dedicated sports channels reflect our clear belief in its long-term potential.”
Fans welcomed the announcement and thanked the broadcaster for finally bringing the World Cup to India. “Thank you on behalf of all Indian football fans,” Vineeth Vijayan wrote on X.
Another fan, named Vishwam Prajapati, wrote: “At a time when football fans in India felt unseen, Zee chose to stand beside us.”
Sayantan Gupta added: “Zee is always the key contributor in Indian football. Hope to see you again as a broadcasting partner of Indian football.”
The deal was secured less than two weeks before the start of the tournament, with matches scheduled to begin on 11 June and run until 19 July in the US, Mexico, and Canada.
This World Cup will be the first to feature 48 teams, expanding the tournament to a record 104 matches.
The Zee Group will broadcast the matches on its newly launched channels and its flagship app, ZEE5, will live-stream the games online.
Zee launched four new sports channels under its United 8 cluster as it began talks with football’s governing body.
The deal gives Zee a toehold in India’s sports broadcast market, where Reliance-Disney joint venture JioStar holds rights ranging from the Indian Premier League cricket tournament to the English Premier League.
Part of the issue with the rights deal in India is that kick-off times in the north American daytime will mostly run through the night in India, with most matches being played between around 10.30pm and 9am IST. The final will kick off in New York’s Metlife Stadium at 12.30am India time.
JioStar, which aired the 2022 World Cup through its predecessor Viacom18, had offered just $2m for the rights but was rejected by Fifa, Reuters reported.
Sony, which held rights for the 2014 and 2018 tournaments, held discussions but did not bid. Monday’s deal covers 39 Fifa events over eight years through 2034, also including the Women’s World Cup in 2027, according to a joint statement from Fifa and Zee.
Fans in China also faced the prospect of missing out on watching the tournament, before China Media Group stepped forward and bought the rights for an estimated $62m.
In 2022, China alone represented 17.7 per cent of the global linear TV reach for the tournament, while India contributed 2.9 per cent. Combined, these two nations made up 22.6 per cent of the total global digital streaming reach for that World Cup.