How FIFA’s TikTok deal redefines the World Cup model

Every World Cup has its moments. Bobby Moore on the Wembley steps. Siphiwe Tshabalala’s strike in Johannesburg in 2010. Messi in Doha, the bisht draped over his shoulders, raising the trophy as Argentina erupted from Lusail to Buenos Aires.

In 2026, the iconic moments that will go down in history will explode across social feeds before the replay has even finished on television. Others will be clipped, remixed and debated within minutes. Some will even be discovered first on a phone screen.

That shift is why FIFA naming TikTok as its first-ever “Preferred Platform” for the 2026 Men’s World Cup matters. It’s not about favouring one platform over another, rather it’s recognising the value of live sport, which now extends beyond a 90-minute broadcast window.

Live matches no longer stand alone

For decades, global sport’s commercial model has been routine; secure the rights, secure the revenue. Broadcast scale underpinned sponsorship, advertising and distribution. The match was the product.

But the modern fan doesn’t experience the World Cup through one traditional channel. They are reacting, sharing, discovering content and streaming simultaneously. Live broadcast remains central and will continue to command premium ad investment, but the conversation surrounding it is just as important commercially. The NBA, for example, has openly grappled with becoming a highlights-driven league, where clips spread widely across social platforms even as the regular-season product fights to retain concentrated live attention.

That doesn’t mean broadcast is going anywhere. After all, engagement with sport content on TikTok can drive greater tune-in to live matches, with TikTok reporting that fans are 42% more likely to watch after engaging with sport content on the platform. That matters… not because social replaces television, but because it feeds it. It extends anticipation before kick-off and sustains momentum long after the final whistle. Zoom out, and this shift is happening across sport more broadly.

The biggest screen in the house is no longer separate from the data layer that powers targeting, sequencing and measurement. At the same time, creator-led content is moving from handheld feeds into living rooms, further blurring the lines between “social” and “TV”. In that context, FIFA’s TikTok partnership is about integration, not disruption. Rights holders are recognising that attention is fluid. The commercial opportunity lies in dictating the tempo like a midfield maestro who decides how the game unfolds.

Lessons in fragmentation

There is, however, a cautionary tale.

Other sports have learned that simply adding more platforms does not automatically create more value. Tennis is currently grappling with fragmented Grand Slam rights and shifting broadcast partners, leaving fans navigating multiple platforms to follow a single tournament. Football’s format is different, but the lesson for global sport is the same. Distribution without coordination reduces value.

Fragmented rights deals, inconsistent access and disconnected experiences can leave fans confused and dilute commercial impact. When distribution expands without coordination, viewers, broadcasters and sponsors all lose.

The risk for global sport is not that TikTok exists alongside broadcast. The risk is that platforms proliferate without a unified strategy. Our research indicates that 66% of marketers believe siloed execution wastes budget, while multi-channel campaigns can deliver up to 47% stronger performance. Fragmentation is therefore commercial as well as structural.

The commercial stakes are rising

That challenge is becoming sharper as ad spend follows video in all its forms. The Advertising Association’s industry forecast continues to show strong growth in TV video-on-demand and CTV investment, particularly around tentpole events like the World Cup. At the same time, brands are leaning into creator partnerships and social amplification to unlock cultural relevance. The most effective marketers aren’t choosing between these environments; they are sequencing them.

For rights holders and broadcasters, this changes the conversation. It’s no longer enough to ask how much a match is worth in isolation. The question is how it performs across an interconnected journey, from discovery clip to live stream, from CTV placement to social reaction, from sponsor message to measurable outcome. That requires aligning creative, data and distribution so they operate as a unit.

The real contest is over the experience

If social platforms successfully drive incremental audiences to premium broadcasts, if CTV environments deliver both shared viewing and precision, and if sponsors can trace engagement across the fan journey rather than within isolated silos, the tournament could mark a new commercial template for global sport.

Like a savvy football coach eying the bench for a good substitution, FIFA’s move signals  it has found a spark to keep momentum in its favour. The World Cup will still be won on the pitch. The roar of a stadium will still ripple across living rooms. Yet real change will be found in how moments travel, how conversations grow and how value is captured across a connected media landscape.

In 2026, the defining question for sports media will not be who owns the rights. It will be who builds the experience around them, linking each phase of play rather than letting the game drift and lose the fans.

Ed Mullins is senior director of inventory and partnerships at StackAdapt