Russian TV Says ‘Nyet’ to FIFA’s World Cup Cash Demands
- Networks refusing to pay record $120 million for soccer rights
- Host nation contract usually signed years before event begins
A Russian football fan watches a game on a giant screen.
Photographer: Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP via Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
Russia is investing 639 billion rubles ($11 billion) to prepare to host the 2018 World Cup, but if local TV networks can’t reach a deal for rights, the country’s residents might never see a game.
Just 14 months ahead of the tournament, soccer’s governing body FIFA is still looking for a broadcaster to carry the games in the host country. State-run TV channels have refused to meet FIFA’s target price of $120 million, more than three times what the country’s TV companies paid to air the previous World Cup. The standoff also means the local TV rights for the 2017 Confederation Cup, an eight-team tune-up event that starts in three months, haven’t been sold.