Mon, June 15, 2026
Fox Sports evades punishment after violating FIFA World Cup advertising rules
Fox Sports, a U.S. television broadcaster, known for its sports programming, owns the English-language rights to the World Cup in the U.S and will evade punishment from FIFA after it violated the governing body’s advertising rules during the first match of the World Cup which took place on Thursday last week between Mexico and South Africa.
Fox’s commercials ran over the hydration break and broadcasting of the match resumed 10 seconds after the second half of the game had already recommenced, violating FIFA’s rule and causing viewer complaints.
The World Cup permits a 3-minute hydration break, 22 minutes into each half, addressing concerns over the North American heat and player welfare. Though, these breaks take place regardless of the temperature at the time.
In total, Fox’s commercials were 40 seconds longer than what was permitted. All rights holders were made aware that broadcasters must cut away from the match 20 seconds after the enforced hydration timeout commences and that they must return at least 30 seconds before resumption. This gives broadcasters 2 minutes and 10 seconds.
Even before this incident occurred, the decision to allow such broadcasters to show commercials during hydration breaks faced criticism as commentors argued the pace of play would be disrupted and that it is just another ploy to increase revenue at the expense of viewers. Sports Illustrated (SI) reported that: “The Wall Street Journal estimates that one 30-second ad slot could go for around $200,000 in a regular group game and jump all the way up to $750,000 if the U.S. men’s national team is in action.”
One social media comment stated: “We are trying to watch the biggest tournament on earth. Absolute nonsense. End this immediately!” Others were slightly more understanding: “Missing live action, which they did, is unacceptable. But commercial breaks during games are a fact of life in the US. It is what it is.”
Some argue that two broken halves of 45 minutes do not allow for much advertising time compared to other sports and therefore understand why the hydration breaks have also been utilised by the broadcaster. As said by Vice President of Production at Fox Sports, Zac Kenworthy: “FIFA is always trying to find ways to innovate…They’re very intrigued in the American market, the way we do sports here.” Though, it was also highlighted by SI that “Fox, rather than FIFA, stand to benefit directly.”
Fox reportedly claimed that it was unaware that referee Wilton Sampaio scheduled an early hydration break after Mexico scored its second goal. It was an emotional celebration as the Mexican striker Raúl Jiménez’s father recently passed.
Therefore, Fox claimed that it started its commercial break late as a result and that it actually only lasted 1 minute and 54 seconds. Since this occurred, no further incidents of the same nature have taken place and FIFA will reportedly not be taking further action, accepting Fox’s explanation.
Cutting to commercials during the hydration breaks is not mandatory as the tournament’s Spanish-language broadcaster in the U.S., Telemundo, is known to have opted out and keeps showing live match coverage including live shots of the crowd, stadium and match replays.
