NEW DELHI — FIFA has not secured a buyer for broadcasting rights to the 2026 World Cup in India with just over three weeks remaining before the tournament's kickoff in Mexico. A high court in New Delhi is hearing a plea on the lack of a tournament broadcast deal and has sought responses from India's information and broadcasting ministry and Doordarshan.

FIFA had expected to sell media rights for the 2026 tournament and the 2027 Women's Cup at an estimated price of $100 million. Reliance's Jio paid $60 million for World Cup broadcasting rights in India in 2022, while Sony Sports secured rights for the 2014 and 2018 World Cups and the Euro 2016 championship for around $90 million in 2013.

During the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, India trailed only China in overall engagement, with more than 745 million fans following the action across all media platforms in the country, according to figures released by FIFA. India ranked among the top 10 countries in television viewing with nearly 84 million viewers, ahead of Germany, France and England. The 2022 final drew 32 million viewers on JioCinema, and the tournament recorded 40 billion minutes of watch time on the platform.

The majority of matches in the 2026 tournament will be played at odd hours for Indian audiences due to a 10 to 12-hour time difference between the host cities and India. Only 14 of 104 games will begin before midnight for fans in India. The final will be held in New Jersey on July 19, beginning at 12:30am in India (19:00 GMT). At the 2018 World Cup, 98.4 percent of matches started before midnight for viewers in India; at the 2022 tournament, 82.5 percent did.

"When you have these kinds of sporting events, effectively it is mostly digital that is monetising and raising big money," said Karan Taurani, executive vice president at investment firm Elara Capital. "Only a small fraction of people who watch the Indian Premier League will watch the FIFA World Cup," he said, adding that an even smaller fraction tune in past midnight. Taurani said a recent ban by the Indian government on fantasy real-money betting apps had reduced the macro form of money in the sports entertainment industry.

English Premier League rights, which sold for $145 million for three seasons between 2013 and 2016, went for $65 million for the 2025-28 cycle in India. There are no major buyers for La Liga broadcasting rights in the country. China's state broadcaster signed a late World Cup broadcast deal with FIFA last week.

The petitioner before the New Delhi high court, a lawyer and football fan, argued in a podcast interview that denying access to the tournament broadcast infringed his fundamental right to acquire and receive information under freedom of speech and expression. "Without timely judicial intervention by this court, the petitioner and millions of Indian citizens will be irreparably deprived of their fundamental rights with no adequate alternative remedy," the plea stated. Doordarshan last broadcast the World Cup tournament in 1998.

"I'm heartbroken that we will not have any reliable way to watch the World Cup this year," said Vishwas Banerjee.