FIFA raises $1.85bn in World Cup broadcast deals
October 27, 2011
FIFA has completed broadcast deals worth $1.85 billion (£1.15bn) for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups in the last week, including an estimated $1.2 billion earned from US sales to Fox, Telemundo and Fútbol de Primera. Football’s world governing body confirmed it has also sold rights to SBS in Australia, Bell Media in Canada and IMC across the Caribbean.
Bell Media, which includes the channels CTV, TSN and RDS, takes the rights away from the current holder, the public broadcaster CBC.
FIFA’s general secretary, Jérôme Valcke, said: “FIFA is delighted with the progress of our media rights sales to date which, coming amid austere economic times, more than confirm the strength and appeal of our competitions.”
The deals confirm the enduring value of FIFA’s signature event despite a year of financial and election scandals and negative headlines.
In March, FIFA said a first wave of 2018-22 sales raised $1.7 billion from the Middle East and parts of Asia and Latin America. Those deals earned 90 per cent more than their 2010-14 value.
FIFA’s final accounts for the four-year financial cycle linked to the 2010 World Cup showed $2.4bn in broadcast sales worldwide.