BERLIN (dpa-AFX) - Soccer World Cups attract millions of people in front of their TV sets - not just pure fans. Accordingly, the TV rights for the 2026 and 2030 tournaments, the sale of which for the German market is scheduled to begin on Thursday, are very valuable. ARD and ZDF are traditionally considered the first candidates. The public broadcasters are definitely interested, but they face a problem: the World Cups have become too big.

"ARD and ZDF will not be able to acquire the rights alone by far," ZDF director Norbert Himmler told the German Press Agency. "This is only possible with other partners here in Germany." But who could that be in view of the largest and therefore most expensive TV rights package that FIFA has ever sold in this country?

Calculation: half a billion euros

At the next two tournaments, 48 teams will play instead of the previous 32, which means that the number of matches will increase from 64 to 104. Based on the estimated prices of the most recent European Championships and World Cups, the rights for two World Cups together could cost more than half a billion euros.

For the three previous major tournaments, several broadcasters in Germany were involved in the live broadcasts. This required complicated contractual arrangements. This was mainly due to the coup of Deutsche Telekom, which had secured the media rights for the 2019 European Championships in its home country of Germany, completely unexpectedly.

Confusing program

For TV audiences, last year's European Championships in Germany were a bit confusing. ARD and ZDF each broadcast 17 matches, with twelve more matches shown on RTL. And Deutsche Telekom showed all the matches live, five of them exclusively and only against payment.

While ZDF director Mr. Himmler has signaled the fundamental interest of public broadcasters in jointly purchasing the rights to major international events, RTL and Telekom are holding back on the question of the upcoming World Cup. Both are currently refusing to comment, along with FIFA.

The problem for private broadcasters like RTL is that expensive sports rights are difficult to refinance. The Cologne broadcasting group, like its competitor ProSiebenSat.1, has been suffering from the ailing advertising industry for some time. And Deutsche Telekom? It has not acquired any major sports rights since its European Championship coup about six years ago.

Surprising TV deals

In view of the major changes in the media market, other providers could be interested in the wide reach of the football World Cup. Recently, there have been some surprises. In early December, the streaming service DAZN bought the global rights for the Club World Cup from FIFA. Shortly thereafter, Netflix acquired the US rights for the Women's World Cup in 2027 and 2031.

It is reassuring for soccer fans that at least the most important matches of the 2026 and 2030 tournaments will be shown at no extra cost and will not end up behind a paywall. The State Media Treaty stipulates that World Cup matches involving the German team, the opening game, the semi-finals and the final must be available for free viewing. This is guaranteed by traditional TV providers such as ARD, ZDF and RTL, but would theoretically also be possible with a free internet service.

The process of selling the World Cup rights is likely to take several months. FIFA started in Great Britain in April and concluded a contract in December. It is a contract for TV, audio and digital platforms that would be conceivable in a similar form in Germany: the rights for the island were purchased jointly by the public broadcaster BBC and the private provider ITV./mrs/DP/mis