FIFA president Gianni Infantino is pushing back. He’s defending the World Cup’s new hydration breaks as a competitive necessity, not a revenue play.
What We Know: The hydration breaks occur at the 22nd and 67th minutes of every match at this summer’s tournament across the United States, Canada and Mexico. They’ve drawn sharp criticism from players, coaches and pundits throughout the competition’s early stages. Broadcasters, however, have capitalized on the stoppages, inserting additional commercials during the pauses. Networks have cashed in with a reported additional $500 million earned by FOX Sports.
What They Said: FIFA President Gianni Infantino (via The Atheltic): “There is no additional revenue for FIFA, as all commercial agreements were signed well in advance. So, this is not a financial issue for us. For us, it is purely a sporting matter.”
What Remains Unclear: Exactly how much broadcasters are earning from the additional ad inventory remains unknown. During the tournament, FOX Sports has run ads during the breaks. However, Telemundo for the greater majority has not instead punting coverage to studio talent for analysis.
What It Means: The hydration breaks are here to stay. Because of the complaints during and following the World Cup in Qatar, these were implemented with the World Cup beginning this year. With networks paying high rights fees to carry the tournament, they need these type of stoppages to earn more revenue to afford the games on their network. Infantino and FIFA are reportedly earning upwards of $6 billion off this year’s tournament.
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John Mamola is Barrett Media’s sports editor and daily sports columnist. He brings over two decades of experience (Chicago, Tampa/St Petersburg) in the broadcast industry with expertise in brand management, sales, promotions, producing, imaging, hosting, talent coaching, talent development, web development, social media strategy and design, video production, creative writing, partnership building, communication/networking with a long track record of growth and success. He is a five-time recognized top 20 program director in a major market via Barrett Medi’s Top 20 series and has been honored internally multiple times as station/brand of the year (Tampa, FL) and employee of the month (Tampa, FL) by iHeartMedia. Connect with John by email at John@BarrettMedia.com.
