FIFA has made three-minute refreshment breaks mandatory during the 2026 FIFA World Cup hosted in the United States, Mexico and Canada. This unprecedented measure will allow broadcasters to insert advertisements during the match. A major commercial turning point for the tournament which will bring together 48 countries for the first time.
For the players a water bottle, for the viewers an advert for soda! The refreshment breaks instituted by Fifa during the next 2026 World Cup promise juicy additional revenue for the TV channels broadcasting the tournament. One more step for football towards spectator sport.
“The three minutes” respite in the middle of each of the two periods of the match, “It cuts everything but the broadcasters are happy, there is more advertising”summarized the Blues coach Didier Deschamps, at the end of the friendly match against Brazil at the end of March. Fifa justifies this cut to protect the health of players in the face of high heat in the middle of summer in the United States, Mexico and Canada.
Nearly $4 billion estimated in gains
But by making them obligatory, whatever the weather, and by authorizing broadcasters to cut the air to introduce advertising, the institution fuels the suspicion of wanting to generate even more money, while the TV rights for this World Cup should bring it nearly 4 billion dollars, according to its latest forecasts, against 2.9 billion in 2022 in Qatar.
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The inflation of qualified countries (from 32 to 48) and therefore of matches (from 64 to 104) already makes this tournament, organized for the first time in three countries, an edition of excess. “It is not surprising that (these new interruptions) occur during this World Cup which will mainly take place in the United States”where the broadcaster is Fox Sports, analyzes Christophe Lepetit, director at the Center for Sports Law and Economics (CDES).
The American spectator sport model
“North American sport is built to have a lot of breaks, to play a lot of commercials”he adds, referring to the NBA (basketball) and the NFL (American football), whose matches are very often interspersed with tactical timeouts that can last several minutes. “Cuts in the middle of a match, these are super powerful screens” for brands, adds Philippe Bailly, president of the NPA Conseil firm. “The attention level (of the viewer) is high, and we’re not going to stray far from the TV”unlike the fifteen minutes that the half lasts, he predicts.
As a result, the prices for these new windows will be the most expensive of the matches, according to the commercial offer published on its site by M6 Unlimited, the advertising agency of the private group which will broadcast 54 matches in France. It will cost up to 425,000 euros per 20 seconds if the Blues appear in the final. Only the screens during possible overtime or penalties will have more value (450,000 and 500,000 euros).
“There will be neither disgust nor departure at the time of advertising”
Sponsors of Fifa and the tournament, including Coca Cola and the Saudi oil company Aramco, have priority in purchasing these spaces. M6, which paid 120 million euros for the rights to the World Cup, according to several media without the channel confirming this figure, provides one minute within each timeout. Without fear of annoying football fans in front of their TV.
“A minute is short […] there will be neither disgust nor departure at the time of publicity”assured the director of antennas and content of the group Guillaume Charles, specifying that the rest of the three minutes would be devoted “au débrief” and à “see some pictures again”. And to insist on the fact that “These breaks were made for the players”. The British channel ITV, for its part, has decided not to add advertising time during these breaks, which could have caused it to exceed the limits authorized by the regulator (Ofcom). ITV innovated and caused debate this year by inserting advertisements on part of the screen before the scrums during the Six Nations Rugby Tournament.
“Three minutes cuts everything”
On the ground, the change will not be trivial. “We play four quarters” and no longer two periods, the centuries-old rhythm of football, summarized Didier Deschamps. “If you are in a strong time or the opponent is in a strong time, the three minutes cuts everything”judged the coach. “It can help if you’re not as good, but if you’re close to making your opponent fold…”. “It changes the experience of all stakeholders”spectators in the stands, television viewers, players, coaches… “I don’t know if it’s a decision that was very well understood by Fifa”asks Christophe Lepetit.
