The days of watching the World Cup on ESPN and Univision will be over after 2014. FIFA's executive committee has awarded the U.S. television rights for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to Fox for English-language rights and Telemundo for Spanish-language rights.
ESPN has broadcast every World Cup except Italia '90 since its launch. Univision has aired every tournament since 1978.
ESPN and Univision paid a combined $425 million for the 2010 and 2014 World Cup deals, making the U.S. rights the most lucrative in the world. Sports Business Journal's John Ourand reported Fox will play $450 million-$500 million while Telemundo, owned by NBC, will pay $600 million.
Rights to all FIFA competitions come with the World Cup rights, which is especially important for Fox since it can load up Fox and Fox Soccer with international programming.
Fox, ESPN and NBC bid for English-language rights, while Telemundo and Univision bid for Spanish-language rights.



Ramon Creager


