FOX caves after furious backlash over greedy $250M World Cup strategy
FOX caves after furious backlash over greedy $250M World Cup strategy
Oscar Maung-HaleyFri, June 19, 2026 at 6:44 PM UTC
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After relentless criticism of the hydration breaks implemented by FIFA at the 2026 World Cup, FOX has made a change to its broadcasting -Credit:Getty Images (Getty Images)
There can be no doubt that one of the biggest talking points to have emerged at the 2026 World Cup has been FIFA's controversial hydration breaks.
During each half of every World Cup game so far, there has been a break in play at the 22nd minute and 67th minute, to give players the opportunity to hydrate during a tournament that promised to be sweltering. While the heat has been a factor across the tournament in North America so far, its impact may have been overstated.
Former USMNT star Alexi Lalas recently defended FIFA's decision to implement the breaks in play, which have effectively turned a 90-minute soccer match into a four-quarter affair. Following that, a former England star has also offered up his thoughts on the hydration break drama in the wake of Lalas' comments.
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FIFA's decision to introduce the hydration break throughout the tournament seems to have stemmed from a desire to cash in on the advertising space they could sell during stoppages, rather than from a concern for player welfare, which they have been criticized for.
And broadcasters have now felt the weight of that criticism too. During Thursday night's clash between Mexico and South Korea, FOX changed their approach to the hydration break.
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While Telemundo opted to run full-screen ads during the stoppages, FOX surprised fans by using a split-screen during the second half of Mexico's 1-0 win against South Korea. The commercial was given the larger of the two screens, while the World Cup coverage played out on the smaller window.
It is unclear whether this is a permanent change from FOX.
Earlier this week, The Wall Street Journal reported that the network is set to generate at least a quarter of a billion dollars in advertising revenue during the World Cup hydration breaks.
They also report FOX is selling each ad spot at "roughly $200,000 for early-round games" and "around $750,000 for games featuring the U.S. Men's National Team."
FOX is set to make more than $250 million from ad sales during newly-enforced 'hydration breaks' -Credit:Photo by Frank Micelotta/Fox Sports via Getty Images
That figure is expected to rise during the latter stages of the tournament as well. Awful Announcing broke down what those figures mean for FOX.
Estimating FOX is charging an average of $300,000 per 30-second commercial slot across the tournament's 104 games, FOX stands to generate roughly $250 million from those ads alone.
That is not factoring in the prospective price hike baked into bigger World Cup games.
With FOX having paid FIFA a reported $485 million for the broadcast rights to the World Cup, the network is sure to be making a huge profit on the 2026 edition of the tournament.
Source: “AOL Money”
