Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
Watch everything World Cup Games in the US, Mexico, or Canada this summer, and you will find that about 22 and 67 minutes into each game, the game will stop. For the first time, FIFA has released a three-minute hydration breakwhich are legally made as a safety measure for players to deal with extreme heat. Vacation will happen regardless of the weather outside, even a few days in New York or Los Angeles.
Although FIFA does not specify the exact amount of money associated with the new suspension of the game, this period introduces reliable and guaranteed commercial windows to be able to broadcast, and generate new sales. There has been a return from fans and playersmany argue that commercial distractions disrupt the flow of games defined by continuous play.
Ghazi Saoud, a 26-year-old Lebanese-born, Norwegian football fan who lives in Chicago, is looking for Norway and Morocco. This World Cuphe describes the break as “the hidden marketing moment.” Saoud criticizes what causes it ball what makes it special is that it has been played the same way for over 150 years: 90 minutes, two 45 minute halves and continuous play. Drainage has been there, he says, but only when it was really needed; Saoud, like many others, believes that halftime changes the tone of the game.
“I see a conflict under the circumstances of climate stressbut you need a break, you need an extra drink—you don’t need three minutes,” said David Goldblatt, one of the youth football historians who also wrote the book. Football Around The World: A World History Of Football. No one needs three minutes to drink water. Fox, he says, is making about $250 million in the U.S. from commercials that air during the break, according to analyst analysis. was given to BBC Sport.
The tension at this break is a real fight against what the World Cup is all about. Around $3.9 billion expected to come from broadcasting rights themselves, meaning that networks like Fox in the US or the BBC in the UK are paying FIFA to show the World Cup, and another. $1.8 billion expected from support and sales. According to forecasts by WARC Media, a UK-based marketing research and intelligence firm that tracks global media spending, the race is expected to come full circle. $10.5 billion global advertising market in 2026.
For some sports fans, this increased advertising by FIFA also signals something else: a shift in American sports entertainment. “I think you’re seeing American concentration in this World Cup,” says Mark Dyreson, a professor of sports history at Penn State. “I think what FIFA is doing is normal and natural in the business world even if it upsets football fans for a long time.”
Goldblatt warns against taking the 2026 World Cup as a sudden change. “Football has been sold like crazy for 40 years,” he said.
In many ways, this trend has already been seen in Qatar. The 2022 World Cup was billed as the most-watched tournament, played by over 100,000 5 billion viewerswhich helped FIFA create $7.5 billion through the 2019-2022 cycle. Broadcasting rights have been brought to approx $2.96 billion in 2022 alone, compared to about $3.9 billion FIFA plans for 2026.
However, some experts argue that hydration breaks are less about money and more about changing the World Cup to change the media landscape.
