India’s Zee Entertainment signs World Cup 2026 broadcast deal with FIFA

India’s Zee Entertainment signs World Cup 2026 broadcast deal with FIFAZee will broadcast the 2026 and 2030 World Cups and the 2027 Women’s World Cup among 39 FIFA tournaments until 2034.FIFA has struck a deal with India’s Zee Entertainment to broadcast the World Cup in the country, ending a months-long ⁠⁠standoff over the tournament’s availability in one of the last major markets where rights remained unsold.While the financial terms of the package – signed on Monday – were not disclosed, FIFA reportedly sought about $100m for the 2026 and 2030 tournaments before ‌‌slashing its asking price to $60m.The deal gives Zee a toehold in India’s sports broadcast market, where the Reliance-Disney joint venture JioStar holds rights ranging from the Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket tournament to the English Premier League football.It covers 39 FIFA events over eight years through 2034, including ‌‌the ‌‌Women’s World Cup in 2027, according to a joint statement from FIFA and Zee.Shares ⁠⁠of Zee were about 7 percent higher on the day ⁠⁠after the announcement.The agreement came just 10 days before the tournament kicks off on June 11 across the United States, Canada and Mexico.Last month, experts told Al Jazeera that the kickoff times for the majority of the matches are the biggest concern for Indian broadcasters since many games will be played at odd hours for the Indian audience, with a 10-12 hour time difference between the host cities and the South Asian nation.Only 14 out of the total 104 World Cup games will begin before midnight for fans in India.The final will be held in New Jersey on July 19, beginning at 19:00 GMT, which will be 12:30am on July 20 in India. By comparison, 98.4 percent of matches at the 2018 World Cup started before midnight, and 82.5 percent at the following edition in Qatar.