SBT, the Brazilian commercial network, is getting close to striking a deal for free-to-air rights to a significant number of games from men's soccer's 2026 FIFA World Cup, it has been reported.
The package of rights (to 32 games) will be confirmed by the parties involved in the coming days, according to Brazilian media, and includes all games to be played by the Brazilian national team – which, by dint of having won the World Cup on five previous occasions, will be one of the tournament favorites.
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It also covers all knockout games from next year's tournament, set to be played in Mexico, the US, and Canada between June 11 and July 19.
This deal will add to the tie-ups already secured in Brazil for the World Cup – with broadcasting heavyweight Globo, and also with the CazeTV streaming outlet (which will be showing all 104 matches, the only broadcaster in Brazil to be doing so, through a deal announced two months ago).
The LiveMode agency (which also runs the CazeTV platform) is in charge of selling World Cup media rights in Brazil, through an exclusive agreement with soccer's global governing body FIFA.
Brazil will be expected to progress deep into the World Cup, despite having endured a relatively disappointing qualifying campaign by their lofty standards.
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By GlobalDataAt the previous men's World Cup, held in late 2022 in Qatar, the team was knocked out at the quarter-final stage by Croatia.
That tournament was covered by a combination of CazeTV, Globo, and Brazilian free-to-air commercial network Band (through a sub-licensing deal with Globo).
In terms of other soccer rights held by SBT, meanwhile, one of the most high-profile deals that the network has in place covers the European men's UEFA Champions League, which it holds rights to through the 2026-27 campaign, while it also shows South America's second-tier Copa Sudamericana.
