What if only Americans willing to pay for another monthly subscription could watch the 2026 FIFA World Cup?
It’s a hypothetical worth considering, because the answer explains why this summer’s tournament became more than a sporting event — it became a shared national experience.
That didn’t happen by accident. The biggest sporting event in the world was freely available to every American on broadcast television. Whether fans tuned in on Fox or Telemundo, they didn’t need another subscription, another password or another monthly bill. They simply turned on the TV.
The record-breaking audiences speak for themselves. Fox delivered the largest English-language World Cup audiences in U.S. history, with more than 128 million Americans watching some portion of the tournament across its platforms. Nearly 24 million viewers tuned to Telemundo for the final, making it the most-watched Spanish-language soccer broadcast ever in the U.S. The tournament captivated Americans across communities, cultures and languages. When the biggest events are available to everyone, they become part of the national conversation.
That success should prompt a broader conversation: What if the World Cup had been available only behind a streaming paywall? Would neighborhood watch parties have been as full? Would children have discovered new heroes? Would casual viewers have become lifelong fans?
We’ll never know for certain, but history suggests fewer people would have watched, fewer communities would have come together, and fewer Americans would have shared in the experience.
The greatest sporting events don’t simply attract fans; they create them. Ratings alone don’t measure their value. The shared moments they create do. That — the magic of sports — only happens when everyone has the opportunity to watch.
For decades, broadcast television has introduced generations of Americans to the Olympics, the Super Bowl, the World Series, March Madness, the Kentucky Derby and countless other iconic events. These are moments families remember watching together, coworkers discuss the next morning and entire communities celebrate.
Increasingly, however, that model is disappearing. More marquee sporting events are migrating behind subscription streaming services, forcing fans to navigate a maze of exclusive rights and growing monthly costs. What was once available to every household is now often available only to those willing and able to pay for multiple streaming subscriptions.
The economics are worth considering. Every time a live sporting event moves behind an exclusive paywall, the audience becomes smaller by design. That reduces the overall value of the event to consumers, advertisers, local businesses and the teams competing on the field. Sports are unlike most forms of entertainment. Their value grows as more people watch, talk about, and share in the experience. Restricting access comes at the cost of cultural relevance and long-term growth.
Fans are noticing, and so are policymakers. I testified recently before Congress about the importance of preserving broad access to live sports programming. Sixty years ago, Congress established the Sports Broadcasting Act’s antitrust exemption for the big four professional sports leagues with a simple premise: Ensure the nation’s major sporting events are widely and freely available to the American public. That principle deserves renewed attention as sports media rights continue to evolve.
The World Cup offered a timely reminder of why. Local broadcasters across the country have been covering how the tournament transformed their communities. Restaurants and neighborhood sports bars were overflowing during matches involving teams from every corner of the globe. A business owner in New Orleans told his local station, WWL-TV, this provided a much-needed boost during what is typically a slower time of year. When people gather under one roof, they don’t just watch soccer — they share an experience.
Broadcast television is uniquely positioned to make those moments possible. It reaches virtually every American household, from rural communities to major cities. It connects viewers not only to the game itself, but also to trusted local news, weather and emergency coverage. And unlike nearly every other platform, it remains free.
We should not view the World Cup’s record-breaking success as simply a triumph for soccer. It should be a reminder that fan access matters.
The next generation of sports fans shouldn’t have to search across half a dozen apps to find the games that define their childhood. They should discover those moments the same way millions discovered the World Cup this summer: by turning on the television.
Some of our greatest national moments are the ones we experience together. The more we place those moments behind paywalls, the fewer Americans will get to share them.
Curtis LeGeyt is president and CEO of the National Association of Broadcasters.
