World Cup market in India and China: 'FIFA got greedy'

"“The Indian market is a sort of a brute force market,” Nandan Kamath, one of India's leading sports lawyer and a key figure in the country's sports policy, told DW. “It's the numbers rather than the willingness.” Broadcasters in India relie far more on advertising revenue than subscriptions. Viewing numbers for the tournament in Qatar were good, but they did not lead to a profit for Viacom18, the Indian media giant who owned the rights. On top of that, the premium subscriber base for most services is just too small to generate a major profit."

"“Everyone has had to rationalize subscriptions to get scale,” Kamath said, before referencing Netflix and Formula One. Both had to change their original ideas to reach the desired audience. For example, a Netflix subscription can now cost 199 rupees a month (roughly $2.50), while F1 offers a season pass for 899 rupees ($10). The Indian Premier League is the biggest cricket league in the world and is the number one focus for broadcasters in the country"

"“I don't know if we've really seen the broadcast meet the market. Normally these rights are sold where there's highly competitive people dealing with FOMO [fear of missing out], and that isn't here right now,” Kamath said. With only JioStar (which absorbed Viacom18 after the Reliance-Disney merger in 2024) and Sony in the running, a competitive market for rights isn't there. And then there's cricket. “India is a sports market that has grown up on cricket,” said Kamath."

India and China have no broadcasting deals for the 2026 World Cup weeks before the tournament begins. Talks continue, but time zones and cost expectations are major obstacles. The Indian market is described as driven more by audience size than by willingness to pay, with broadcasters relying heavily on advertising rather than subscriptions. Qatar viewing numbers did not translate into profit for Viacom18, and premium subscriber bases are considered too small to support large rights fees. FIFA may need to lower expectations and adjust to how other services scaled by changing pricing and models. India’s broadcast rights market is also not highly competitive, with only JioStar and Sony in contention, and cricket dominates sports attention.

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