According to information from The New York Times, FIFA is planning a new football tournament similar to the World Cup, and Apple may acquire the global broadcasting rights. The one-month competition series would be held in the United States for the first time, and could take place as early as the summer of 2025.
A new global tournament similar to the World Cup is being planned by the top body of international football, FIFA. The one-month series of events will be hosted by the United States for the first time, and Apple may acquire the global broadcasting rights. The New York Times knows that the international organization has already initiated negotiations with the tech giant, and they may announce their cooperation agreement in April. It is not yet known whether the series will be available only to Apple+ subscribers, or whether the matches will also be available for free.
The tournament will be held for the first time between 15 June and 13 July 2025, a year before the next World Cup – a period when footballers do not normally have to prepare for major world events.
FIFA previously stated that the name of the new championship will be “Mundial de Clubes FIFA”, but according to the latest news, this may be revised.
Apple has found its calculations in the football streaming market in the past. The New York Times recalls that the tech giant acquired the global broadcasting rights of the American professional football championship, or Major League Soccer, for ten years, within the framework of a 2.5 billion dollar agreement. Other streaming platforms often pounce on opportunities like this: Amazon Prime has been broadcasting American football matches regularly since 2022, and Netflix focuses primarily on the sports documentary genre, but the company recently also bought the broadcast rights to the pancracy show WWE Raw for $5 billion.
