Zee Entertainment on Wednesday said it had signed over 12 sponsors for the FIFA World Cup 2026, which begins on Thursday, across its linear and digital platforms. The sponsors span auto, FMCG, banking and financial services, beverages, technology and lifestyle. The 39-day tournament, co-hosted by the US, Mexico and Canada, will conclude on Juy 19.
Mahindra has joined as the co-presenting sponsor, while Diageo is the co-powered by sponsor. Other brands associated with the tournament include Apple, Pernod Ricard and Mondelez, the broadcaster said. Zee had bagged the Fifa media rights for eight years last week, forking out around $30-35 million (Rs 280-330 crore).
Zee had offered bundled packages for both spot and sponsorship deals, ranging from Rs 15.6 crore for associate sponsors to Rs 17.55 crore for co-powered sponsors and Rs 25 crore for co-presenting sponsors, sources in the know said.
For spot advertisers, Zee was offering Rs 3-5 lakh per 30 seconds, which works out to about Rs 16,600 per 10 seconds across TV and digital, sources in the know said. This is a little over 10% increase over the 2022 edition price, experts said, despite late-night match timings, a difficult slot for Indian broadcasters.
The company said it had received strong advertiser interest after offering customised, high-impact solutions across linear, digital, CTV, social and on-ground integrations.
“Leveraging our capabilities across TV and digital platforms, we are ensuring that advertisers can be a part of the entire journey. Our integrated model is aimed at delivering measurable outcomes,” Sandeep Mehrotra, chief operating officer, advertisement revenue, Zee Entertainment, said.
Zee will air the tournament through its linear sports portfolio under Unite8 Sports and its digital entertainment platform Zee5.
Zee said active discussions were underway with several other brands across categories, which is expected to close shortly.
The tournament will feature 48 teams, 104 matches across 39 days. Nearly 90% of the matches will be played between midnight and 6 AM IST. To counter this issue, Zee has also offered repeats and highlights of matches as part of its integrated spot and sponsorship ad plans, sources said, to ensure maximum viewership and visibility for brands.
The free commercial time for spot buyers on TV, said experts, is about 7,000 seconds, while digital has about 2,000 seconds of FCT for spot advertisers. Zee is said to be talking to conglomerates such as Hero, Tata Group and JSW that promote football as a sport, sources said. Among global sponsors, Adidas, Coca-Cola, Hyundai and Kia, Lenovo, Qatar Airways and Visa may take spots on TV and digital, experts added.