FIFA World Cup scores interest in India, but can ZEE5 win the subscription game?

FIFA World Cup 2026: As the FIFA World Cup enters its most exciting phase, many fans are turning up to work bleary-eyed. There is something remarkable about football: over 90 minutes, the game can be pulsating, packed with twists and turns. Since the World Cup takes place only once every four years, interest levels are understandably high. This edition is being played in the US, Canada and Mexico.

That said, the real question is how relevant football is to the average Indian audience. After all, India remains a cricket-crazy nation, and that’s where all the bucks go — read advertising. Besides, football has traditionally had limited viewership here, with much of it coming from West Bengal, Kerala and a few smaller pockets in eastern India.

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Harish Bijoor, CEO, Harish Bijoor Consults, agrees that a World Cup “played at the other end of the world and in a different time zone” makes it difficult for the broadcaster. “In India, one is speaking of a nano-niche audience that is plain crazy about the game. To head to work, school or college after a late-night or early-morning match is a real challenge,” he says. From an advertiser’s point of view, he is not convinced that FIFA will be lapped up easily. “Limited viewership and the availability of other options are the primary reasons,” he says.

The question then is: why did Zee Entertainment Enterprises go for it? The company has said that 95% of its premium advertising inventory has been sold, with more than 22 brands across categories — including automotive, FMCG, technology, fashion, real estate and energy — coming on board. According to Zee, a surge in demand has pushed premium 10-second advertising rates for the knockout stage to ₹20-25 lakh.

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Bijoor says football viewership is predominantly male — at least 80% — and concentrated in a few states. “It is extremely segmented to that extent,” he explains. Zee, in his view, is taking a long-term bet. Football, packaged with, say, a couple of blockbuster movies, could help build a stronger viewership base. “It is clear that they are chasing the subscription model and not banking on advertising,” he adds.

Meanwhile, Ajit Varghese, Partner and CEO, Madison World, said in a LinkedIn post that the consensus was that Zee had put the FIFA World Cup behind a premium paywall — around ₹700 on ZEE5, going up to ₹1,699 — making consumers, rather than advertisers, the primary source of revenue. “At the current stage, 2 or 2.5 million subscribers will see the subscription business alone crossing ₹150-200 crore. As the tournament moves into the knockout stages, subscriber additions are likely to accelerate despite the inconvenient timings. At 3.5/4.0+ million subscribers, subscription revenues could exceed ₹300 crore,” he stated.

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Varghese went on to point out that advertising then becomes incremental rather than essential. “Digital advertising could add another ₹25-30 crore, while advertisers looking for mass reach naturally migrate to linear television, potentially contributing another ₹30-35 crore. If FIFA helps Unite8 Sports (Zee’s television channel) enter another 25-30 million television homes, incremental affiliate revenues could conservatively add another ₹30+ crore. For advertisers looking for reach, TV would be the right place,” he added.

In all, subscription revenues of ₹300-350 crore, digital advertising of ₹25-30 crore, linear TV advertising of around ₹30 crore and incremental distribution revenues of ₹35-40 crore together create a potential revenue pool of ₹450 crore. “This is from an asset many believed was worth less than ₹150 crore.”