FIFA has sold mainland China broadcasting rights for the 2026 North American World Cup to China Media Group (CMG) for about $60 million, a report said. That is less than half the amount FIFA initially expected, prompting an assessment that the value of World Cup broadcast rights in the Chinese market has fallen more than anticipated.

Blockchain media outlet BeInCrypto reported on May 16 that FIFA and CMG signed the contract on May 15. The signing came just 27 days before the June 11 opening of the 2026 North American World Cup.

The contract is also said to include broadcasting rights for FIFA tournaments in 2027, 2030 and 2031, in addition to the 2026 World Cup. The coverage spans free-to-air terrestrial broadcasting in mainland China as well as streaming and mobile platforms, and includes rights for 4K and 8K transmission.

Market attention has focused on the price gap. The report said FIFA had expected $250 million to $300 million in early negotiations for the China broadcast rights. The final contract, however, stayed at about $60 million.

FIFA is said to have lowered its asking price several times during talks. China state-run Global Times reported that FIFA at one point adjusted the price to $120 million to $150 million, but the final deal was struck at an even lower level.

The outcome is seen as reflecting the structure of China’s sports broadcasting market. CMG, the parent company of China Central Television (CCTV), holds a virtually monopolistic position in the mainland China market for major international sports broadcast rights. The industry believes CMG entered negotiations after limiting its internal budget to $60 million to $80 million from the outset.

Box-office factors also played a role. China’s men’s national soccer team failed to qualify for the 2026 World Cup finals. With local soccer enthusiasm weaker than in the past, an assessment also emerged that key match time slots in the United States, Canada and Mexico are unfavorable for Chinese viewers.

Evening match times in North America fall between midnight and 6 a.m. in Beijing. That places most marquee matches in late-night hours. Some local users assessed that "FIFA initially demanded $300 million, but the Chinese side pushed back hard, stressing that match times would be in the early morning in East Asia."

The contract amount is said to be similar to what China paid for the 2022 Qatar World Cup. But the 2026 tournament has a much larger number of participating countries and matches, expanding by about 50 percent based on match count.

The fact that the overall contract size stayed similar despite the rise in match numbers has led to an interpretation that FIFA’s pricing power has weakened in the Chinese market.

Separately, analysts say the case is also intertwined with shifts in the sports broadcasting rights market and the expanding trend of digital assets and prediction markets.

More than 230 World Cup-related markets have been opened on the decentralized prediction platform Polymarket. Platforms such as Polymarket and Kalshi are drawing attention in a different way from the traditional sports media market by reacting quickly to real-time sports events.

Crypto exchanges have also moved to expand World Cup-related products. Some exchanges, including Binance, have launched fan token-based World Cup products. FIFA is also running a Web3 digital collectibles business using an Avalanche-based blockchain.

Some in the market also say it will be difficult to solve structural problems in the traditional broadcasting rights market through digital expansion strategies alone. FIFA is also said to have yet to finalize a broadcasting rights contract in the Indian market even as the World Cup approaches.

The industry believes the case shows that even for global sports events, it has become difficult to maintain high broadcast rights prices as before if viewing patterns, time zones and local distribution structures do not align by country.

REPORT: FIFA has settled on a broadcasting deal with China for $60M just 27 days out from the tournament FIFA originally wanted $300M for the deal pic.twitter.com/rMdtoE88QL