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ALM TV Ratings

SBS’s secret 2030 FIFA World Cup broadcast deal​

www.afr.com

SBS’ secret 2030 FIFA World Cup broadcast deal

Days after Spain triumphed, it can be revealed the broadcaster has had an agreement for the next tournament in place for months, but is yet to announce it.
www.afr.com www.afr.com


The biggest sporting event in the world will remain freely available and in front of a paywall for Australians after the government-backed SBS quietly extended its contract with FIFA to broadcast the 2030 Men’s World Cup.
 
ossi said:

SBS’s secret 2030 FIFA World Cup broadcast deal​

www.afr.com

SBS’ secret 2030 FIFA World Cup broadcast deal

Days after Spain triumphed, it can be revealed the broadcaster has had an agreement for the next tournament in place for months, but is yet to announce it.
www.afr.com www.afr.com


The biggest sporting event in the world will remain freely available and in front of a paywall for Australians after the government-backed SBS quietly extended its contract with FIFA to broadcast the 2030 Men’s World Cup.
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Brilliant
 
One last thing about football and it's cultural position in the USA from me is....

They've just done a huge WC where most of the stadiums were sold out and had huge numbers in terms of the tv and broadcasting.

They have a fully professional 30 club MLS with most teams owning their own soccer specific stadiums and with a very vibrant support culture to go with it.

Below MLS they have an expanding semi-professional pyramid and a very good youth league system.

The US continually host touring sides from Europe and Latin America who regularly play in front of huge crowds. I remember one game between Manchester United and Real Madrid had 105,000 in a stadium in Detroit.

US broadcaster's pay big money for overseas club competitions such as the UEFA CL, Copa Libertatores, the EPL, La Liga, Bundesliga etc etc....

And yet here in Australia you still get football fans doubting the games cultural standing in America....

The NRL turn up for a couple of half sold out early season games in Las Vegas and their media and fans think they've conquered America!!

The AFL have their games shown on various cable TV networks for free and think they've conquered the fucken world!!

FMD.....Australia's football fans are a hard to please lot at times....🤣

It's the classic tall poppy + cultural cringe combo. The US doesn't need soccer to be #1 to prove it's successful because it's big enough, growing, and has the money/infrastructure to keep improving. Australia could learn a bit from that pragmatic view instead of the constant "but is it really that popular?" questioning...
 
^^^^^^^^^^ Fil

Just on your US analysis I look and have looked for a number of years at MLS data.

This stat if it holds an grows will be interesting.

I read this BTW about 3 week's prior to the WC.

The MLS ratings were up in their current season by about 62%, to an average per round of 7.9 million, by comparison Baseball received 28 million per round.

The MLS started prior to the WC ending. The ratings on Fox for their matches broadcast was 507k per match. Historically the bigger number by far is on Apple, let's assume it's the same so 507k.

That's 1.14 per game or 16 million per round.

The article indicated that anything approaching 20 million per round would lead to a mega increase in their media deal.
 
Midfielder said:
^^^^^^^^^^ Fil

Just on your US analysis I look and have looked for a number of years at MLS data.

This stat if it holds an grows will be interesting.

I read this BTW about 3 week's prior to the WC.

The MLS ratings were up in their current season by about 62%, to an average per round of 7.9 million, by comparison Baseball received 28 million per round.

The MLS started prior to the WC ending. The ratings on Fox for their matches broadcast was 507k per match. Historically the bigger number by far is on Apple, let's assume it's the same so 507k.

That's 1.14 per game or 16 million per round.

The article indicated that anything approaching 20 million per round would lead to a mega increase in their media deal.
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Yep....MLS is growing quite rapidly in real-time metrics

However, the biggest difficulty for MLS is "perception"....

And perception is king these days.

In sports (and culture more broadly), narrative often outweighs raw data in the short-to-medium term.

From what I've read the MLS leadership does seem relatively grounded compared to some other leagues.

Don Garber has been there a long time and has a pragmatic track record. Perception won't shift overnight, but if they keep delivering incremental wins (better product on the field, smarter marketing that highlights homegrown talent, occasional marquee players, strong rivalries), the narrative can catch up to the metrics.
 
Football us life said:
Yep....MLS is growing quite rapidly in real-time metrics

However, the biggest difficulty for MLS is "perception"....

And perception is king these days.

In sports (and culture more broadly), narrative often outweighs raw data in the short-to-medium term.

From what I've read the MLS leadership does seem relatively grounded compared to some other leagues.

Don Garber has been there a long time and has a pragmatic track record. Perception won't shift overnight, but if they keep delivering incremental wins (better product on the field, smarter marketing that highlights homegrown talent, occasional marquee players, strong rivalries), the narrative can catch up to the metrics.
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"real time metrics" hey? Thats amazing for the media deal and the ROI of the commisioner and his friends.. Meanwhile a week after the most successful World Cup in the history of the known universe (by 5 times according to Trump) and I count plenty of empty seats when Messi isn't there.

1784875149059.png
 
Monoethnic Social Club said:
"real time metrics" hey? Thats amazing for the media deal and the ROI of the commisioner and his friends.. Meanwhile a week after the most successful World Cup in the history of the known universe (by 5 times according to Trump) and I count plenty of empty seats when Messi isn't there.

View attachment 8430
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Accrding to the Google, MLS averaged 22,109 fans per match through the first three months of the 2026 season.

The 6th highest average of any other football competition worldwide.

Also, consider that MLS clubs often play in soccer-specific venues holding 20,000 to 30,000 people, capping its per-game average. However, when MLS teams scale up to larger NFL venues for marquee games, their peak crowds easily match elite global standards.

I mean it's not fantastic but it's not bad either.
 
Football us life said:
Accrding to the Google, MLS averaged 22,109 fans per match through the first three months of the 2026 season.

The 6th highest average of any other football competition worldwide.

Also, consider that MLS clubs often play in soccer-specific venues holding 20,000 to 30,000 people, capping its per-game average. However, when MLS teams scale up to larger NFL venues for marquee games, their peak crowds easily match elite global standards.

I mean it's not fantastic but it's not bad either.
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Sure but lets not pretend the appetite for the sport is greater than it seems.
 
Monoethnic Social Club said:
Sure but lets not pretend the appetite for the sport is greater than it seems.
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That is a completely fair point, and it’s important to separate raw ticket sales from true cultural footprint and global resonance....

Also, the bulk of the passionate, multi-generational soccer market in America is heavily anchored by the Hispanic and Latino communities.

A lot of which don't give a flying fark about the MLS....

They follow "fútbol" and not "soccer"....

And this isn’t just a linguistic difference, it's a massive cultural, philosophical, and emotional divide here.

For millions of Hispanic fans, fútbol is an inheritance. It is intrinsically tied to family, heritage, and identity.

MLS "soccer," by contrast, often feels like a manufactured corporate product. The league relies on expansion drafts, franchise relocations, and artificial rivalries engineered by marketing departments. To a fan base raised on organic, multi-generational club histories, MLS can feel sterile and transactional....

Ring any bells??? 🤣
 
Just on Football ratings in the US.

If you added the viewership of the top ten leagues broadcast in the US Football I think out rates a couple of codes.

From memory the top watched leagues when like this.

EPL
LAMEX Mexico
MLS
Spain
Twas either Brazil or Argentina.
Italy
Germany

BTW this is also an issue across many countries with smaller leagues a
 
Midfielder said:
Just on Football ratings in the US.

If you added the viewership of the top ten leagues broadcast in the US Football I think out rates a couple of codes.

From memory the top watched leagues when like this.

EPL
LAMEX Mexico
MLS
Spain
Twas either Brazil or Argentina.
Italy
Germany

BTW this is also an issue across many countries with smaller leagues a
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Would be interesting if we had something like that combining ratings/views across the platforms for all the football leagues across the world in Australia actually
 
Football us life said:
Accrding to the Google, MLS averaged 22,109 fans per match through the first three months of the 2026 season.

The 6th highest average of any other football competition worldwide.

Also, consider that MLS clubs often play in soccer-specific venues holding 20,000 to 30,000 people, capping its per-game average. However, when MLS teams scale up to larger NFL venues for marquee games, their peak crowds easily match elite global standards.

I mean it's not fantastic but it's not bad either.
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Still a lot better than we have. A lot of people talk down the MLS, with it is not like Europe, well, thankfully it is not, as we need variety in our game.
 
Sutherlandbear said:
Still a lot better than we have. A lot of people talk down the MLS, with it is not like Europe, well, thankfully it is not, as we need variety in our game.
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Granted variety is the spice of life.
Mind you I don’t view USA MLS as need football purest wise.
To fifa it’s $’s nothing more.
Whenever and more they will rise in time they will influence mericanism ways to the game - I don’t wish that to occur in the future.
We saw enough bs introduced at the Cup.

Be careful what you wish for to you MLS Influencers.
 
LFC said:
Granted variety is the spice of life.
Mind you I don’t view USA MLS as need football purest wise.
To fifa it’s $’s nothing more.
Whenever and more they will rise in time they will influence mericanism ways to the game - I don’t wish that to occur in the future.
We saw enough bs introduced at the Cup.

Be careful what you wish for to you MLS Influencers.
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I get your point old boy, but i was alluding to the match day experience, mainly the tribalism, singing, chanting.

BTW, i do not often view it on telly, prefer to attend the games when i am over there.
 
Sutherlandbear said:
Still a lot better than we have. A lot of people talk down the MLS, with it is not like Europe, well, thankfully it is not, as we need variety in our game.
Click to expand...

Yep....One of the things that I love about football is the cultural differences from league to league and country to country.....

As the English poet William Cowper once said...."Variety is the spice of life....."

Edit] And our mate LFC once said it too....😋
 
Sutherlandbear said:
I get your point old boy, but i was alluding to the match day experience, mainly the tribalism, singing, chanting.

BTW, i do not often view it on telly, prefer to attend the games when i am over there.
Click to expand...

You're probably not getting a lot of soccer fans up and along LFC's 'Honky tonk' highway but in San Jose, LA, Seattle, Chi Town, Boston, NYC, Phillie, Dallas, Houston, Miami etc there's probably lots....
 
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