TV Viewership Tracker: 2026 FIFA World Cup ratings recap: FIFA World Cup 2026: Historic viewership on FOX and Telemundo; 2030-34 media rights in focus

Research evidence excerpt

TV Viewership Tracker: 2026 FIFA World Cup ratings recap: FIFA World Cup 2026: Historic viewership on FOX and Telemundo; 2030-34 media rights in focus

Equity Research

23 July 2026 | 5:00AM EDT

AMERICAS MEDIA

TV Viewership Tracker: 2026 FIFA World Cup ratings recap

The 2026 FIFA World Cup delivered substantial domestic viewership growth, Michael Ng, CFA

+1(212)902-8618 | michael.ng@gs.com

with average viewership rising 116% across FOX, FS1, and Tubi to ~7.7 mn Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC

viewers, while Telemundo and Peacock increased 143% to ~6.3 mn viewers. We Yash Goenka, CFA

attribute this step-up to the expanded 48-team North American format, favorable +1(212)934-6312yash.goenka@gs.com|

primetime scheduling, and Nielsen’s integration of Big Data plus Panel OOH metrics. Goldman Sachs India SPL

This momentum was further supported by a deep USMNT run, resulting in 50.1 mn

combined viewers for the U.S.-Belgium Round of 16 match. FOX and NBCUniversal

are positioned to benefit from this robust viewership, which is providing a significant

tailwind to advertising revenue. Notably, FOX has aggressively monetized newly

mandated hydration breaks to generate an estimated $250 mn in incremental ad

sales ($200,000–$750,000 per 30-second spot), per BBC Sports. Given FOX’s initial

$485 mn outlay for the English-language rights, management has guided that the

tournament will be EBITDA accretive on an overall company basis, with the financial

impact split evenly between F4Q26 and F1Q27. Concurrently, NBCUniversal

reported a doubling of advertiser spend compared to the 2022 FIFA World Cup,

driven by unprecedented demand and expanded digital participation. Furthermore,

the network recently highlighted that the 2026 tournament generated double-digit