NBCUniversal has already begun conversations on a renewal of its Spanish-language World Cup package, with an eye of bringing its English-language networks into the mix.
Telemundo and its parent company NBCUniversal have already spoken to FIFA about a potential renewal of their Spanish-language World Cup rights deal, and are “beyond exploring” the prospect of adding English-language rights as well, the network’s EVP/Sports and Head of Streaming Joaquin Duro told Austin Karp of Sports Business Journal in a piece published Wednesday.
Both Telemundo and English-language World Cup broadcaster Fox Corporation are in the final year of their respective deals to carry the event. The Women’s World Cup will air on Netflix both next year and again in 2031, but rights for the men’s World Cup remain available.
Like Fox, Telemundo initially acquired World Cup rights in 2011 in a deal that originally spanned from the 2015 Women’s World Cup through the 2022 men’s edition. Shortly before the first of those tournaments, Fox and Telemundo were awarded an additional cycle of rights that included the 2023 women’s tournament and this year’s North American-based men’s event, which thus far has delivered any number of viewership milestones.
Prior to Telemundo, Univision owned Spanish-language rights to the event.
Any pursuit of World Cup rights by NBCUniversal may be complicated by the company’s suddenly-uncertain future. Comcast announced this week that it plans to spinoff NBCUniversal into an independent company, leaving the media businesses without the financial backing of a larger parent company at a time when it faces potential renegotiations with the NFL and a year-old NBA deal that commands $2.5B annually over the next decade.
Rights to this year’s World Cup were reportedly awarded at a steep discount, as detailed in a The New York Times report earlier this year, and it is believed that the price tag would have been potentially three times higher on the open market.
Assuming a traditional bidding process, any renewal would potentially command at least a billion per year, particularly in the event that the English and Spanish rights are bundled together.
