2024-03-07 08:58:16
The announcement this Thursday by the president of M6 would represent a first for TF1, which, in the event of non-purchase of matches from its competitor, would not broadcast any World Cup match for the first time since its creation.
It’s a small media revolution. M6 will broadcast the matches of the 2026 World Cup and the 2030 World Cup in unencrypted form after having acquired the rights in place of the competition’s historic broadcaster, TF1, its president, Nicolas de Tavernost, announced this Thursday March 7 on RTL ( a radio from the M6 group). “We have obtained the rights to the 2026 World Cup […] and also the 2030 World Cup, so two World Cups will be broadcast for free on M6,” he declared, confirming press information.
Asked if M6 was going to resell certain matches to TF1, he kicked in, after recalling that the two channels shared the broadcast of Euro-2024 in Germany (June 14-July 14). “Our competitor did not wish to continue sharing, this is the reason why we took our responsibilities and went to have for the first time the completeness, the exclusivity of the matches in the clear” of the next two Cups of the world, said Tavernost. However, if TF1 did not buy any matches from M6, it would be a shock in the audiovisual and sporting landscape: it would be the first time that the first channel, created in 1975, would not broadcast any World Cup match.
“We are rather below [des tarifs] of what has been practiced until now on the market”
The amount paid by M6 was not revealed. According to RMC Sport, which revealed the information on Tuesday, it is “very high”. Nicolas de Tavernost simply assured that the estimate of 175 million euros which had circulated was “totally false”. “We are rather below what has been practiced until now on the market,” he said. For the last edition, in 2022, TF1 paid an estimated amount of around 70 million euros (its total offer coupled with that of BeIn for paid rights was estimated at 130 million euros).
The 2026 World Cup will be jointly hosted by Canada, the United States and Mexico. It will be played for the first time in a format expanded to 48 teams, compared to 32 previously, and will offer a total of 104 matches. The call for tenders from the International Football Federation (FIFA) opened on January 9 and closed on February 13. It concerned the rights for the 2026 World Cup but also those for the 2030 World Cup, which will take place mainly in Spain, Morocco and Portugal. Until now, M6 has only broadcast World Cup matches once, during the 2006 edition. The channel also broadcasts part of the Euro matches, the European Nations Championship, since the 2008 edition.
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