FIFA will lose £230M ($295.6M) in TV rights money if the 2026 World Cup is not hosted by the U.S., "due to deals it has agreed with broadcasters," according to Martyn Ziegler of the LONDON TIMES. The world governing body "looks poised to hand the tournament to a joint bid" by the U.S., Mexico and Canada but has deferred a final decision to allow any rival bid -- Morocco is considering a joint bid with another north African country -- "to be put forward." However, details of TV contracts for the 2026 World Cup rights in the U.S. agreed with Fox and Telemundo showed that FIFA will receive an extra $295M from the broadcasters if the tournament is hosted or co-hosted by the U.S. -- and will not receive that money if the U.S. is not a host nation. The TV deals for '26 were agreed by "disgraced" former FIFA Secretary General Jérôme Valcke "as compensation to the broadcasters for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar being staged in the winter to avoid the extreme temperatures" (LONDON TIMES, 5/30). BLOOMBERG's Tariq Panja reported because of the "extreme Qatari temperatures," FIFA wanted to reschedule for the "cooler autumn months." But Fox and Telemundo had already agreed to pay $1.1B to air the 2018 and 2022 World Cup. That price "assumed the traditional June-July schedule" A fall tournament, on the other hand, "pitted" football against college and professional American football and the "start of basketball and hockey." As a result, the networks told FIFA they were "reviewing their options." To "stave off legal action," FIFA execs offered Fox and Telemundo the chance to buy the rights to the '26 tournament in a "closed auction, without opening the bidding to competitors." Patrick Nally, the Englishman who "pioneered sports sponsorship at FIFA," said, "They bought themselves out of a problem." New details of FIFA's contracts revealed Fox and Telemundo bought the '26 TV rights in the "lucrative U.S. and Canadian markets" for the same price as the '22 event. Telemundo agreed to pay "at least" $350M with FIFA getting a $115M bonus if the U.S. ended up hosting. Fox's fee was $300M, with a $180M bonus (BLOOMBERG, 5/30).
