The hydration break introduced at the World Cup has divided opinion. Players and coaches, above all, have never really embraced it, and many supporters feel the same. But there is one clear winner: the broadcasters. A new advertising window has appeared, and few have been happier about it than the American networks, long used — to put it mildly — to building sport around commercial breaks. That is why the United States’ elimination, after defeat to Belgium in the round of 16, is far from a financial disaster. The money generated by this FIFA idea has changed the equation. According to estimates and projections, the advertising revenue from hydration breaks alone will cover FOX Sports’ investment in the World Cup rights.
The figures collected by Sportico, one of the key publications covering the business of sport, are revealing. FOX paid 485 million dollars for the rights and is expected to bring in 450 million from commercials shown during hydration breaks alone by the end of the tournament — 260 seconds per match. The figure does not include the revenue from its regular advertising packages. FIFA, then, has handed broadcasters a significant opportunity. At least those who chose to sell these new spaces. Telemundo, the other US rights-holder, decided not to. But, Sportico reports, it is still expected to earn “a mountain of money” from its pre- and post-match programming.
Television has always been about audiences, and this is where the Sportico numbers become most striking. Soccer in the United States has never reached figures like these. The round-of-16 match between the United States and Bosnia was watched by 26.4 million people across the country. Just 500,000 fewer than Game 7 of the latest World Series, the defining game of the baseball season. Across the tournament, average audiences are up by around 120% compared with the 2022 World Cup. The exits of the United States and Mexico, therefore, represent a missed opportunity. Nothing more.