FIFA World Cup hydration breaks will focus on player wellbeing, but broadcasters could see a big advertising boost

FIFA says the decision is driven by the welfare of the players, but the three-minute breaks in each half could also provide valuable commercials during all 104 matches.

With the weather forecast hot and memories of the scorching Club World Cup in 2025 still fresh, FIFA has for the first time made three-minute hydration breaks mandatory in each half for all 104 matches of the World Cup, which starts this week in the United States, Mexico and Canada.

While players replenish themselves and viewers may grab a bite to eat, broadcasters have a major new opportunity to offer advertisers additional prime-time airtime and increase their revenues.

The interruptions will also be another example of the World Cup mirroring American-style sporting events, packed with advertising and spectacle. A halftime show featuring Colombian singer Shakira during the July 19 finale will also mirror the National Football League’s Super Bowl event.

FIFA says its approach to water breaks is based on concerns about player welfare, but it could also support the growth of media rights as networks are incentivized to compete based on revenue opportunities.

Such breaks at a World Cup were first implemented during the Netherlands-Mexico match in Brazil in 2014, when temperatures exceeded 32 degrees Celsius, and were subsequently considered on a match-by-match basis.

Michael Johnson, a U.S. sports industry research analyst for S&P Global, told Reuters that the addition of hydration breaks “could be extremely valuable and potentially push Super Bowl-level prices into that $7 to probably $9 million range.”

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Advertisers are recognizing the exposure they could gain from the World Cup, with the final between Argentina and France in Qatar in 2022 reaching a total audience of 1.42 billion viewers.

«American viewers are used to the NFL style model, the NBA style model, four quarters. They’re used to in-game breaks. This World Cup is essentially a mirror to those style models,» Johnson said.

However, in European football, competitions such as the English Premier League are traditionally broadcast on pay-TV networks such as British broadcaster Sky, where viewers watch advertisements before the match, at half-time and after the final whistle.

“I think even subscription channels like Sky in Britain would be very happy with some more advertising inventory,” said Francois Godard, an independent sports industry analyst.

But following this in-game advertising model could spark fan backlash in non-US markets, especially in Europe, where most leagues play throughout the winter and football has long been associated with continuous play.

«Football is notorious for its constant play. And purists worry about the way this kind of Americanizes the game… And creates viewer fatigue, more ads can annoy fans, especially if they feel intrusive or excessive,» Johnson added.

More is coming to a letdown for European fans

Structured breaks can temper the emotional investment of fans who are already put off by frequent breaks for Video Assistant Referee checks. A Premier League Football Supporters’ Association survey found that only 3.3 percent of fans felt their matchday experience had been improved with VAR.

It is unclear how many of the global broadcasters broadcasting the World Cup will use the hydration breaks to show advertisements.

In Britain, where the sport started, broadcaster ITV has already said it will not show ads during hydration breaks due to strict advertising limits set by British regulator Ofcom.

«ITV sees regulatory issues and this is the first thing on their mind, but they also have to meet viewer expectations. And I’m not sure British viewers would have welcomed more advertising,» Godard said.

Meanwhile, the expanded 48-team tournament, up from 32 teams previously, will help FIFA’s total revenues reach $8.9 billion by 2026, with television broadcast rights representing 44 percent of the contribution, according to FIFA’s 2026 budget.

FIFA has yet to say whether hydration breaks will be a permanent feature in future tournaments. However, the 2030 and 2034 editions will be held in Spain, Portugal, Morocco and Saudi Arabia respectively, where temperatures can soar well above 30 degrees Celsius in the traditional June-July window.

The combination of growing media rights cycles and hydration breaks could lead to competitive bidding between streaming platforms and traditional broadcasters for the 2030 and 2034 tournaments, although 2030 rights have already been awarded in some territories.

«You’ll most likely see the streaming giants come into play, you know, Apple, Amazon and especially Netflix, I think, will be in the mix,» Johnson said, adding that the World Cup rights deal of Fox Sports, the sports programming division of US media company Fox, expires after the 2026 tournament.

Published on June 10, 2026