Deepak Nagpal
In the run-up to the FIFA World Cup, Indian football fans were almost staring at the possibility of looking at blank screens when matches would be underway in the US, Mexico and Canada, and the world would be glued to their TV screens.
FIFA initially wanted $100 million for an eight-year deal that included the rights to broadcast two men’s World Cups, a Women’s World Cup and almost all other FIFA tournaments until 2034.
With no India media house willing to shell out that much for the rights, the sport’s governing body reportedly brought down the asking price to between $60-66 million.
JioStar got engaged in active discussions with FIFA to secure the rights to broadcast the world’s most popular sporting event. However, it was willing to pay between $20-25 million only for the marquee tournament.
The JioStar-FIFA negotiations broke down and there was speculation of state broadcaster Prasar Bharti stepping up to bring the 2026 FIFA World Cup to Indian TV screens. However, that did not happen too.
And Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (ZEEL), an Indian broadcaster on the backfoot for most of the recent past due to varied reasons, then sensed an opportunity. It went ahead, negotiated with FIFA and brought home the World Cup rights for a reported $40 million – still less than FIFA’s ask but almost double of what JioStar was willing to pay.
Many thought Zee had acquired a white elephant considering a majority of the 2026 edition matches were due to be telecast at odd hours in India due to the time difference. Not many expected viewers to tune in live past midnight and early morning to catch the action live. And if there were a smaller number of people available to watch the action live, there would be fewer subscribers.
However, Zee had possibly prepared its playbook well in advance, and it had decided to take a different path.
Remember the 2022 FIFA World Cup? Jio Cinema, which then existed as a separate entity, bagged the rights and streamed the entire World Cup for FREE. No Indian viewer had to shell out a single rupee to watch the matches which were not kept behind a paywall despite Jio Cinema having active subscription plans.
Zee’s comeback as a sports broadcaster
Cut to 2026. The picture changed entirely. Zee decided not just to put the entire feed behind a paywall, it also decided to upset its existing subscribers by announcing that none of the prevalent Zee5 OTT subscription packs would have access to the World Cup matches.
Non-subscribers who wanted to stream the FIFA 2026 World Cup live on their screens (TV, computer, mobile) would have to pay a minimum of Rs 799 for a 3-month subscription, or Rs 1,699 for an annual subscription to watch the matches. Existing subscribers would need to pay the difference between the FIFA pack cost and the proportionate balance remaining in their existing subscription.
Zee also launched four new sports linear TV channels, under the Unite8 Sports branding, marking the broadcaster’s return to sports programming after several years. These channels, available via DTH and Cable TV, were also launched as paid services.
Almost halfway through the tournament, Zee’s gamble appears to be paying off.
The media company has made a comeback as a sports broadcaster – on linear TV as well as OTT – and appears on course to make the FIFA deal commercially viable.
In fact, it may even have rewritten the rules of profitability and would likely earn a majority of the revenue, not through advertising but subscriptions.
Ajit Varghese, Partner and CEO, Madison World, notes in a LinkedIn post that Zee is making football fans, not the advertisers, pay for the FIFA deal. While some call it counterproductive, numbers are telling a different story.
“…the maths tells a different story. Even one million subscribers generate nearly ₹70 crore in revenue. At current stage 2.0 mn or 2.5 mn subscribers, the subscription business alone crosses ₹150–200 crore. As the tournament moves into the knockout stages, subscriber additions are likely to accelerate despite the inconvenient timings. At 3.5/ 4.0+ million subscribers, subscription revenues could exceed ₹300 crore,” states Varghese.
Game changing strategy?
It’s worth recalling that when Zee bagged the deal and announced separate subscription plans for the World Cup, there was online criticism. However, when the tournament started on June 11, Zee released initial viewership data and showed strong engagement.
Over 100 million viewers tuned into Zee’s coverage across TV, digital, and social platforms during the opening weekend of the World Cup. The Zee5 app alone garnered around 6 million unique viewers during this period, with average engagement exceeding 190 minutes per user, the company stated.
This put the first stamp of approval on Zee’s monetisation strategy: that, according to early estimates, football fans were willing to pay for the premium event despite the fact that they may be existing Zee5 subscribers.
Zee, in fact, played smart with pricing and access as well. Before the start of the tournament, it launched an early-bird offer where those signing up for the Rs 799 quarterly plan would get access to FIFA matches on three devices. However, as soon as the tournament started, the device limit was slashed to just one. This change, it hoped, would translate into more individual subscriptions.
Now, with the tournament in knockout stages, the media company has come out with a monthly FIFA subscription plan as well, in a bid to entice those who decided not to shell out Rs 799 for a 3-month plan but may still want to watch the football World Cup on their screens. The Rs 399 monthly plan does just that. It sits at a pricing where potential viewers, who had decided to sit out so far, may just join the party for a cost that nearly equals a monthly mobile prepaid/postpaid plan.
When Zee got the FIFA deal, the discussion focussed on how Zee would tap into advertising during late night matches to earn revenue. Zee completely changed the conversation and occupied the driving seat. It turned advertising into a secondary source, converting paid subscribers the main driver of its revenue.
This makes for a potential case study in the Indian media context where it is still being debated whether a majority of Indians are ready to pay for premium content.
Varghese sums up well when he says, “The more important lesson is strategic. Most broadcasters evaluated FIFA using yesterday’s business model. Zee recognised that FIFA could simultaneously be a subscription engine, an advertising platform, a distribution catalyst and the launch vehicle for an entirely new sports network.”
It’s still early days to judge how well Zee’s $40 million bet has paid off. What should be remembered is that we are just days into a deal that is for 8 years and 39 tournaments, including 3 World Cups. Zee’s playbook has already taken control of the conversation as far as monetisation strategy is concerned.
When final subscription and viewership data come out post the mega event, closely watching would be JioStar, Sony and other potential broadcasters and streamers. For them, it might turn out to be a lesson in strategy and execution.