GUADALAJARA, Mexico (AP) — In Brazil, home of soccer-mad fans and the five-time world champions, the only way to watch all 104 games of the World Cup will be through a streaming platform anchored by an influencer.
Elsewhere, users will get to see parts of matches live on YouTube and TikTok for the first time.
Forget about the exclusivity of traditional over-the-air networks: The World Cup will be watched differently this time.
As FIFA pushes to engage a new generation of fans, younger audiences will have more options to access soccer’s showcase event thanks to what soccer’s governing body describes as a record number of deals with broadcast partners that carry digital-only platforms. Creators’ perspectives will be brought to the forefront and user experiences worldwide will be enhanced thanks to what FIFA is calling “game-changing” partnerships.
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The goal is to grab viewers’ attention, effectively giving them an appetizer that will encourage them to go back and watch the games on traditional channels.
Co-hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada, this year’s World Cup — the biggest ever, with 48 teams — begins Thursday and will run through July 19.
Brazil historically has been one of the countries with the most engagement on social media and digital platforms.
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FIFA took notice, and four years ago did a type of a test run with popular streamer Casimiro Miguel, now 32, who had shown success engaging with younger sports fans on his Twitch channel. For the 2022 Qatar World Cup, FIFA reached a deal with him — and his partner LiveMode — to broadcast 22 matches on the CazéTV YouTube channel.
With a more informal and conversational approach to the broadcast, along with increased fan engagement and the participation of content creators as commentators, the trial was considered a resounding success. It led to an expanded deal for the tournament this year, with CazéTV becoming the only channel — digital or traditional — with rights to all 104 games in Brazil. The network Globo, the home of soccer in Brazil for decades, will show 55 games.
“FIFA is always looking at innovative ways about how to enhance the broadcast coverage of our flagship competitions and the deal with CazéTV is an example of such, which will ensure football fans in Brazil will be able to watch all 104 games, while also helping to reach new audiences and demographics,” the governing body told The Associated Press in a statement.
LiveMode, the Brazilian company that has CazéTV under its umbrella and broadcasts matches with content creators, announced last month that it had launched an international broadcast arm of the company and that Cristiano Ronaldo was one of its shareholders.
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LiveMode’s channel in Portugal will broadcast one game per day during the World Cup, including all of Portugal’s matches and the final. The 41-year-old Ronaldo, one of soccer’s all-time greats, is making his sixth World Cup appearance with the national team.
“There is an audience that connects with digital first, and digital allows us to bring this new audience to follow major sporting events,” LiveMode co-founder Sergio Lopes told the AP. “Generally, this audience is younger and doesn’t just want to watch a match. They want to participate in the conversation, interact in real time, and feel like they are part of a community.”
FIFA earlier this year picked TikTok as the first “preferred platform” for video content on social media at the World Cup, giving creators access to content. World Cup broadcast rights holders can livestream parts of the 104 games at a dedicated hub on the TikTok app. Then in March, FIFA reached a deal with YouTube to also allow rights-holding broadcasters to stream game action live on the video platform. Rights holders will be allowed to broadcast the first 10 minutes of games.
“YouTube is where global sports fans tune in before, during, and after the game. That is what makes our preferred partnership with FIFA for World Cup 2026 so unique,” said Angela Courtin, YouTube’s vice president of entertainment and sports marketing. “Between the incredible reach of our creator cohort and providing FIFA’s media partners with a pathway to upload more premium content to their YouTube channels, plus our live YouTube FIFA Creator Cup in New York City this July, we are ushering in the next generation of soccer fans for years to come.”
With the new deals, FIFA expects the 2026 World Cup to break all records related to digital and streaming audiences.
In 2022, FIFA reported 5 billion total engagements during the tournament in Qatar, with 2.7 billion coming through digital and streaming services, and 2.9 from linear television. Nearly 1.5 billion people watched the final won by Argentina, with 237 million of them being digital-only viewers, according to FIFA.
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In the U.S., Fox holds the rights for the 2026 World Cup, and there were no exclusive deals by FIFA with digital platforms, though the network will have every match streaming live and on-demand within its apps. Streaming giant Netflix has secured the U.S. broadcasting rights to the Women’s World Cup in 2027 and 2031, in the most significant deal FIFA has signed with a streaming service for a major tournament.
“We are seeing that sport needs to occupy all screens, engage with all audiences to grow,” LiveModeTV co-founder Lopes said. “New audiences expect authenticity, interaction and different ways to follow an event. The World Cup continues to be the greatest sporting spectacle on the planet, but the way to experience it is also becoming more social, more participatory, more accessible, and more connected to the digital habits of each generation.”
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AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cup
