FIFA World Cup Broadcast Deals Finalized, Worth $1.85 Billion

FIFA has completed the World Cup broadcast  deals for the 2018 and 2022 tournaments for an estimated worth of $1.85 billion, according to ESPN Soccer.

Fox, Telemundo and Futbol de Primera radio will own the broadcasting rights in the United States; the broadcast deals in the U.S. alone were estimated at $1.2 billion.

ESPN, who had owned the English-language rights for the World Cup from 1994-2014, were outbid by Fox for the upcoming tournaments set to take place in Qatar and Russia. ESPN paid $100 million for the English-language rights for the 2010 and 2014 World Cups. Univision had previously owned the Spanish-language rights for the tournament.

The FIFA World Cup is seen as one of the largest global sporting events, drawing in viewers from across all continents. The next FIFA World Cup tournaments will be held in 2014 in Brazil, 2018 in Russia and 2022 in Qatar.