What the FIFA World Cup tells us about reaching sport audiences today
The FIFA World Cup 2026 will be one of the biggest live sport moments of the decade. It will also be a useful test case for how sport audiences are reached in a media environment that no longer behaves as if everyone is watching in the same place, on the same device, through the same service.
That does not make the live broadcast any less important. Premium live rights still sit at the centre of the sport economy, and for an event like the World Cup, they will continue to draw enormous audiences. But the wider opportunity for sport rights holders and content owners is now bigger than the match window itself.
Fans do not only want the 90 minutes. They want highlights, previews, reactions, documentaries, archive footage, analysis, social conversation, and shoulder programming. They want to engage before, during, and after the event, often across multiple platforms. The challenge for sport brands is to build distribution strategies that reflect that behaviour.
The World Cup will show that scale today is not built in one place: It’s built through a 360-degree approach to fan engagement that connects live moments, always-on content, and measurable commercial outcomes.
The fan relationship now extends beyond matchday
For decades, sport media was built around appointment viewing. The schedule drove the audience. Fans knew where to go, broadcasters controlled the experience, and the relationship was concentrated around the live event.
That model is still powerful, but it’s only part of the picture.
Today’s fan journey is continuous. A supporter may watch a live match on broadcast, catch highlights on a mobile app, follow analysis on social media, discover archive content on a FAST channel, and return later for replays or documentary programming. None of those touchpoints replaces the live event. But together, they expand the relationship.
Now, the most valuable sport brands are no longer thinking only in terms of reach. They’re thinking in terms of sustained engagement. The question is not simply, “How many people watched the match?” but also, “How do we keep those fans connected when the match is over?”
This is especially important for leagues, federations, and rights holders with passionate but distributed audiences. A club, league, or tournament may have fans across dozens of markets, languages, and time zones. Expecting all of those fans to engage through one primary distribution path is unrealistic. The smarter approach is to create multiple doors into the same sport experience.
The World Cup is the clearest example. It is global by nature, local in passion, and fragmented in consumption. A fan in London, Lagos, Berlin, or São Paulo may follow the same tournament, but their media habits, devices, and platform preferences will differ. Sport brands need strategies flexible enough to meet those fans where they are.
FAST is becoming a complementary layer for sport
Free ad-supported streaming TV has an important role to play in this new model.
According to Omdia, the number of unique sport FAST channels across Europe alone grew from 329 channels in the first quarter of 2024 to 599 channels by the end of 2025 – an increase of 82%. Across major markets including the UK, Germany, Italy, Spain, and France, publishers are investing heavily in sport programming as audiences continue to seek free streaming experiences.
FAST is increasingly being recognised as a complementary layer: a way to broaden reach, create an always-on destination, and monetise content that might otherwise be underused. It gives rights holders another way to build engagement, maintain an always-on presence with fans, and generate value from content beyond live events.
For premium sport properties, this can include shoulder programming, archive matches, highlights, press conferences, and behind-the-scenes features. These assets can create meaningful engagement when programmed consistently and distributed widely. We're seeing that play out around the FIFA World Cup, where Tubi has positioned itself as a companion destination through its FIFA World Cup FOX Hub, offering free access to highlights, analysis, and original programming such as the "Destination World Cup 2026" docuseries.
FAST gives sport rights holders a channel-based environment where they can combine live events, library content, and monetisation in one place. A league can use FAST to create a 24/7 destination that sustains fan interest between fixtures. A federation can use it to reach international audiences without building a separate direct-to-consumer product in every market. A rights holder can use it to test new content formats, support emerging competitions, and create new inventory for advertisers.
Monetisation has to match the live environment
Sport content creates premium advertising environments because it delivers attention, urgency, and emotion. But monetising sport in streaming requires more than simply inserting ads into a video stream.
Live environments move quickly. Ad opportunities need to be signaled clearly. Buyers need to understand when inventory is live, premium, and contextually relevant. Publishers need tools that support both traditional ad breaks and formats that do not pull viewers away from the action.
This is particularly important for FAST channels carrying sport programming. Reliable ad markers, dynamic ad insertion, clear live signals in the bidstream, and the ability to support innovative ad units are all key to ensuring a positive viewing experience. Picture-in-picture formats, L-bar overlays, and sponsored graphics, for example, allow brands to remain visible while the action continues, creating opportunities for engagement without disrupting the moment. For sport, the viewer experience is part of the value proposition. A monetisation strategy that damages the experience will eventually damage the viewership.
For rights holders, the bigger point is that distribution and monetisation can no longer be treated as separate decisions. The way content is packaged, scheduled, surfaced, and sold all affects the commercial outcome. A successful sport streaming strategy needs to connect the operational layer with the audience and revenue strategy.
Global moments need flexible strategies
The World Cup will bring the world together around live sport. But it will also make clear that the audience is arriving through a more complex mix of platforms, devices, and viewing behaviours than ever before.
For sport rights holders and content owners, the lesson is to build a deliberate, multiplatform strategy that extends the value of live rights, keeps fans engaged beyond matchday, and creates new ways to monetise premium sport environments.
Today’s biggest live events matter enormously. The opportunity now is to build around them.
[Editor's note: This is a contributed article from Wurl. Streaming Media accepts vendor bylines based solely on their value to our readers.]
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