FIFA finally sealed a World Cup broadcast rights deal for China on May 15, just 27 days before the opening game and at a much lower reported price than the soccer body wanted.

China Central Television (CCTV), the Chinese state media, will pay around US$60 million for the rights to the 2026 World Cup, below the US$300 million that FIFA initially expected.

The overall agreement with China Media Group (CMG), which operates CCTV, covered the next four World Cups — two each of the men’s and women’s — through 2031, FIFA said in a statement. It includes the 48-team, 104-game men’s tournament in North America starting June 11.

According to Chinese media reports, China Central Television (CCTV) had turned down FIFA’s initial offer worth US$250-300 million, a figure far exceeding CCTV’s budget and the network’s estimation of the tournament’s commercial value in a country, where its national team did not qualify for the 48-nation Cup finals.

“It’s a real pleasure that we have found an agreement with CMG,” FIFA secretary general Mattias Grafström said in the soccer body’s statement. “The Chinese market is extremely important to the global football community.”

FIFA’s leverage in China was less because of the time difference of up to 15 hours from Beijing to the 16 host cities spread across the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Chinese companies have already made a big investment in the 2026 World Cup which is set to earn FIFA more than US$11 billion.

Technology firm Lenovo is one of FIFA’s eight top-tier sponsor partners, and second-tier deals were signed by dairy firm Mengniu and electronics manufacturer Hisense.

Chinese conglomerate Wanda signed a long-term deal with FIFA in 2016 which was terminated two years ago.

The 2030 men’s tournament will be mostly hosted in Spain, Portugal, and Morocco, with single games currently scheduled to be played in Argentina, Paraguay and the original 1930 World Cup host Uruguay.

The 2027 Women’s World Cup will be played in Brazil and the 2031 World Cup mainly in the United States, along with Mexico, Costa Rica and Jamaica.

That hosting decision with no rival candidate is due to the confirmed in November by FIFA member federations.

As China’s flagship public service broadcaster, CCTV has long held exclusive free-to-air World Cup broadcast rights for the Chinese mainland. The latest deal has eased off Chinese fans’ earlier concerns that they would miss the live coverage of the 2026 tournament at home.

Industry analysts said the hard-fought rights deal sets a vital precedent for sports media rights pricing in China.

CCTV’s stance of rejecting an inflated staggering fee not only safeguards reasonable commercial interests for domestic broadcasters but also pushes FIFA to adopt more market-oriented and regionally-tailored pricing strategies for the world’s second-largest sports media market, according to insiders.

在国际足联（FIFA）与中方长期谈判后，2026年美加墨世界杯的中国大陆转播权协议终于在开赛前27天达成。最终转播费远低于国际足联最初的预期。

该协议由中央广播电视总台（CMG）与国际足联签署，金额约6000万美元，而国际足联最初要价高达3亿美元。国际足联在声明中确认，协议覆盖了未来四届世界杯（两届男足、两届女足），直至2031年。即将于6月11日开赛的北美男足世界杯将首次扩军至48队、104场比赛。

据中国媒体报道，中央电视台此前拒绝了2.5亿至3亿美元的初始报价，因该数字远超央视预算及其对赛事在中国商业价值的评估 —— 毕竟中国男足并未晋级本届决赛圈。

国际足联秘书长马蒂亚斯·格拉夫斯特伦表示：“能与CMG达成协议非常高兴，中国市场对全球足球界极为重要。”

分析人士认为，由于本届世界杯的16个主办城市与北京存在多达15小时的时差，这削弱了国际足联在中国市场的谈判筹码。

尽管转播权谈判艰难，但中国企业已对2026年世界杯进行了大规模商业投资。该赛事预计为国际足联带来超110亿美元收入。联想是国际足联八个顶级赞助商之一，蒙牛和海信签订了二级赞助协议。万达曾在2016年与国际足联签下长期协议，但两年前已终止。

2030年男足世界杯的转播权价格未披露。中国曾有意申办该届赛事，但疫情延缓了中国主办国际足球赛事的步伐。2030年世界杯将由西班牙、葡萄牙和摩洛哥联合主办，单场比赛计划在阿根廷、巴拉圭和乌拉圭举行。

2027年女足世界杯在巴西举行，2031年女足世界杯将主要由美国主办，墨西哥、哥斯达黎加和牙买加参与承办。该届赛事无竞争对手，申办结果预计今年11月由国际足联确认。

作为中国旗舰公共广播机构，中央电视台长期拥有世界杯独家免费转播权。最新协议打消了中国球迷担心无法收看2026年世界杯直播的顾虑。

业内人士指出，这场来之不易的转播权交易为中国体育赛事版权定价树立了重要先例。央视拒绝天价的做法，维护了国内转播机构的合理商业利益，也促使国际足联在全球第二大体育媒体市场采取更市场化和区域差异性的定价策略。

(Translated by DeepSeek)