Peacock‘s role in the FIFA World Cup may be about to get much bigger.
According to Sports Business Journal, a senior NBCU executive said the company is already having conversations about both English- and Spanish-language rights to future World Cup tournaments. That comes as Comcast moves ahead with its plan to split NBCUniversal into a separate publicly traded company, a development that raises fresh questions about how aggressively NBCU could bid, and how much Peacock could benefit if it wins.
The price tag is already enormous
Per SBJ, the current U.S. World Cup deal is reportedly worth about $485 million for Fox’s English-language rights and roughly $460 million for Telemundo’s Spanish-language package. The report also notes that FIFA’s next rights cycle is still unresolved, even though the 2030 tournament is getting closer and closer, setting up what could become one of the fiercest sports media battles in years.
The report notes that industry analysts believe FIFA is less likely to split English- and Spanish-language rights into separate packages as it has in the past. Instead, broadcasters may have to bid on a larger package, dramatically increasing the cost of securing the tournament.
The Comcast split has clearly added a twist, but the report notes media consultant Ed Desser does not see the spinoff as a deal-breaker. In fact, he told SBJ that a standalone NBCUniversal would still be a major media company with no obvious reason it could not pursue a rights deal of this size. SBJ also notes that exclusivity could help with production costs and ad sales if one company controlled a larger share of the event.
If NBCU succeeds, it wouldn’t just take on Fox for one of television’s most valuable properties, it could transform Peacock into an even more important destination for the world’s biggest sporting event.
Peacock already has a major World Cup presence
NBCUniversal already has an established World Cup platform through Telemundo and Peacock. For the 2026 tournament, Peacock is streaming all 104 matches in Spanish while adding interactive features including multiview, live statistics, personalized match hubs, catch-up highlights, brackets, and trivia. Telemundo is broadcasting 92 matches, with Universo carrying the remaining 12.
Winning future English-language rights would dramatically expand Peacock’s World Cup footprint and could make the service an even more compelling destination for soccer fans. Additionally, most of the 380 Premier League matches stream on Peacock in the United States, and U.S. Men’s and Women’s National Team matches, including friends and select competitive fixtures stream in Spanish.
With World Cup viewing increasingly moving beyond traditional television, and fans are embracing new ways to watch. Recently, Brazilian streamer CazéTV reportedly drew more than 12 million concurrent viewers on YouTube during Brazil’s opening match. The spike led to roughly a 900% surge in searches for the channel, illustrating how free streaming can attract massive audiences alongside traditional broadcasters.
If NBCU decides to move agressvially for the international soccer showcase, the next rights fight could reshape the future of sports television as legacy broadcasters and streaming platforms battle for one of the few live events capable of attracting hundreds of millions of viewers worldwide.