IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters/Brett Davis
The mandatory hydration breaks at the 2026 World Cup were a hot topic of conversation before the tournament got underway, and that remains the case due to the ads Fox has decided to run while they unfold. The network ruffled some feathers after breaking the rules FIFA set for broadcasters, but it’s easy to understand why it’s milking them for all they’re worth based on how much it stands to make.
Americans who tune into football, basketball, baseball, and hockey games on a regular basis have become accustomed to being bombarded with the steady stream of commercials you’re subjected to during those broadcasts.
The World Cup has historically offered a borderline jarring departure from that particular formula, as soccer games usually featured two uninterrupted 45-minute halves. Sure, teams may wear jerseys that are plastered with ads inside a stadium that’s also filled with them, but there’s a refreshing lack of actual commercials when you watch games on television.
Those spots are still relatively few and far between at the 2026 World Cup, but many soccer purists have taken issue with the hydration breaks that have given broadcasters the opportunity to pack more ads into the matches they’re showing.
Fox has taken full advantage, and those three-minute respites have turned out to be a very lucrative development.
Fox is reportedly making at least $250 million from commercials being aired during hydration breaks at the World Cup
Hydration breaks made their World Cup debut in 2014, as a judge in Brazil issued an order that required a mandatory halt in the action in the 30th minute of each half in games where the temperature was above 32°C (~90° F). They were abandoned when the tournament was held in Russia in 2018, but they returned in 2022 for games in Qatar that hit the same threshold.
FIFA made a fairly controversial decision before things got underway in the United States, Canada, and Mexico in 2026 by announcing a three-minute break would be held 30 minutes into each half during every match regardless of the temperature or venue.
That was widely viewed as a fairly blatant cash grab when you consider the governing body also decided to give networks with broadcasting rights the opportunity to air commercials during those breaks, and Fox did not turn it down. The channel that most Americans are relying on to watch the World Cup got a talking to after its ads ran long during the game between Mexico and South Africa, but it managed to escape any tangible punishment.
Awful Announcing crunched the numbers after The Wall Street Journal reported Fox was charging brands between $250,000 and $750,000 if they wanted to run a 30-second spot during hydration breaks at various points of the tournament, and they conservatively estimated the network stands to make just shy of $250 million based on those commercials alone.
As the outlet notes, Fox reportedly paid $485 million to secure the broadcast rights to this year’s World Cup, which means the breaks will likely account for well more than half of that initial investment.
Capitalism strikes again.