SBS Obtains Exclusive FIFA World Cup 2030 Rights in Australia

In a recent sports business development coming from Australia, SBS has extended its media rights deal with FIFA. With this new extension, the Australian broadcasting company has obtained exclusive rights to the FIFA World Cup 2030, which will be jointly hosted by Portugal, Morocco and Spain.

Through this deal, SBS will be able to broadcast 104 matches of the world event live and free for all Australian fans who enjoy football. The arrangement reinforces SBS, SBS2, SBS On Demand, and SBS Audio will be bringing all the live action of all high-octane encounters which will take place in the premier football world event.

Jane Palfreyman, Managing Director, SBS, expressed her views on this new development, she expressed, “SBS is without question the home of ‘the World Game’ in Australia and we are so pleased to retain the exclusive rights for 2030. The FIFA World Cup™ is one of the few sporting events that truly brings Australians together across all cultures, languages and communities. In 2030 audiences will once again be able to experience every match live and free on SBS. Securing the FIFA World Cup 2030™ continues the important partnership between SBS and FIFA that spans more than four decades and reflects our long-standing commitment to making the world’s biggest sporting moments accessible to all Australians.”

Ken Shipp, SBS Director of Sport, said, “The FIFA World Cup and SBS have shared an extraordinary history in Australia, stretching back to 1986. The 2030 tournament will mark 44 years of that relationship and will be particularly special as football celebrates 100 years of the FIFA World Cup™ across three continents. SBS has always approached the FIFA World Cup™ as much more than a sporting event. Our job is to capture the football, the stories, the cultures and the emotion that make it unlike anything else in world sport. We’re incredibly proud to have the opportunity to do that again in 2030.” Jean-Christophe Petit, FIFA Director of Media Partnerships & FIFA+, shared similar comments about the partnership extension..

In a glaring testament to the big payoff for high-calibre football broadcasting, FIFA World Cup 2026 was a record audience for the tournament across Australia with audiences of more than 18 million. The FIFA World Cup was a very popular show on TV, attracting more than 18 million viewers (TV cumulative reach) when the gripping performances of Australia’s Socceroos kept a lot of them off the field. More than 209 million hours were consumed – which was the broadcaster’s formula of offering full matches for SBS On Demand users and “mini match” recaps of those games in a 30-minute, 12-minute and 3-minute clip, giving away half of the game time – with an estimated 55 per cent of consumption taking place digitally.