That year was the coming of age of the Indian football fan. For a decade thereafter — including the late-night matches of the 15th edition hosted exclusively in the United States — DD extended its coverage to key matches plus quarters, semis and finals. Anchored by the hardy duo of Narottam Puri and Novy Kapadia, stars shining on distant foreign fields became household names in the addas of Calcutta, as it was known then.
The entry of private satellite broadcasters lent an added kick to this new-found mania for international football. These channels began to selectively beam the popular European and South American tournaments. Inevitably, then, from 2002, it was a private channel that brought us the World Cup played in Japan and South Korea.
This was the first time the tournament was broadcast in its entirety — from the first rounds to the final and even the third-place play-off — plus opening and closing ceremonies, and American singer Anastacia’s rendition of Boom, the official anthem, ahead of each match. The broadcaster (Ten Sports, a fledgling channel owned by the same United Arab Emirates businessman who brought cricket to Sharjah) acquired the rights from a bankrupt German media company for an undisclosed amount. Though Ten Sports relied on a professional British network for the match coverage, former English players appeared in locally produced pre-, mid- and post-match programmes. Their expert comments were delivered in accents so thick as to render most of their wisdom unintelligible.
ESPN-Star Sports, the rising power in sports broadcasting, brought us the next two editions of the tournaments in 2006 (Germany) and 2010 (South Africa). To the standard fare of former players dispensing expert views came the addition of a woman anchor, with elaborate gowns and coiffures wholly out of place in a football programme. At the same time, FIFA, the governing body for which the World Cup remains its biggest revenue earner, raised the asking price from $8-9 million in the first to $40 million for the next.
But four years later, Sony Six paid a bargain price of $90 million for the 2014 (Brazil) and 2018 (Russia) editions plus the Euro 2016 tournament, suggesting that the Indian subcontinental market had cooled. What changed was the explosive success of the Indian Premier League (IPL), which started in 2008. By 2014, IPL had gained so much traction that it had cannibalised advertising revenues for many other sports - including one-day international cricket and Tests.
By the 2022 edition in Qatar, Reliance’s Viacom18 bagged the rights with a $60 million deal that included television and digital rights. Through its merger with Disney’s Star India, Reliance-Disney is part of a duopoly in sports broadcasting in India with Sony Ten. Its reluctance to stump up FIFA’s asking price of $100 million for the 2026 and 2030 editions reflects the truth that there really aren’t that many football fans in India after all. Even kabaddi attracts higher viewership.
With matches played across the US, Mexico and Canada, starting at 12.30 am through to 11 am the next day, the broadcaster expects subdued viewership and, therefore, advertiser interest. More so when the tournament coincides with the Women’s T20 World Cup tournament and Wimbledon, both to be broadcast on the same network. Small wonder, the Star-Jio’s offer is $20 million for only the 2026 edition, which has left the notoriously profit-motivated FIFA aghast.
Now the internet bristles with rumours that DD might step into the breach, just as it did with the Women’s World Cup football in 2023. Whether DD will agree to pay upwards of ₹900 crore (about $100 million) to entertain a small segment of Indians is an open question. Either way, with less than a month to go, football fans have all fingers - and toes - crossed.
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