2026 World Cup: FIFA assigns the rights in the US (Fox / Telemundo) and Canada (Bell Media)

Domestic audiovisual rights to the 2026 World Cup were awarded by FIFA (Fédération international de football association) in the United States to the television groups Fox (for English) and Telemundo (NBCUniversal Group, Spanish) and In Canada, to the Bell Media group (English TV networks CTV and TSN, RDS Francophone network), on 12/02/2015.

Fox, NBCUniversal Media and Bell already held the broadcasting rights in their respective countries to the 2018 (Russia) and the 2022 (Qatar) World Cups. The allocation of these new rights without a tendering procedure has proved controversial in the United States and Canada, as the host country of the 2026 World Cup has not been announced yet and it is not yet known when it will be. The identity of the host country and the number of hours time difference with the broadcaster, directly influence the amount the broadcaster would be willing to to pay. The United States has been touted as a potential host nation of the 2026 World Cup.

• Some US and Canadian media outlets see this assignment of rights as FIFA compensating its North American…