A peak of nine million people tuned in to watch England vs Mexico in a World Cup round-of-16 clash for the history books on Monday morning.
That match aired on the BBC. England’s next one, the quarter-final against Norway, will be on ITV. And for generations, the greatest show on earth has been shared across both free-to-air channels in the UK.
That is not the case in every geographical market. Far from it, in fact.
In America, you need to be a subscriber to Fox Sports – who paid $485m for the TV rights – to take in the World Cup. It’s a similar situation across much of the Middle East, North Africa and the Asia Pacific region.
Pay TV – or, increasingly, over-the-top streaming services – are the backbone of FIFA’s commercial strategy, from which it is projecting to make $13bn for the rights cycle ending with the World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
So, with ITV being taken over by the UK’s biggest pay TV company, Sky, could a big chunk of the UK’s World Cup coverage one day disappear behind a paywall?
Free World Cup coverage protected under UK law
Earlier this week, Sky confirmed that it is taking over ITV’s media and entertainment divisions in a £1.6bn deal.
The merger will create a new titan in the British media landscape. And while Sky have not formally announced their plans post-merger, it has been suggested by media experts and insiders that the long-term plan is to paywall some of ITV’s biggest and best shows.
But fans watching the World Cup needn’t worry.
Under UK law, the World Cup is designated as a “Listed Event” under the Broadcasting Act 1996, which is administered by Ofcom. That means it must be available to free-to-air broadcasters who reach 95 per cent of the population.
Other protected events include the Olympics, the FA Cup Final and the Grand National.
The UK government could, in theory, change the Listed Event regime. But that would be electoral suicide and, in all likelihood, the World Cup will always be free to watch in Britain.
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