Broadcast deal getting closer for inaugural FIFA Club World Cup

In December 2023, FIFA officially confirmed their expanded, revamped and renamed Club World Cup with the newly banded Mundial de Clubes planned for 2025 and set to feature 32 teams with Games to be played from 15 June to July 13 in the United States.

The new Mundial de Clubes FIFA will feature clubs from each of the six confederations and will include a combination of each confederation’s club champions from the previous four seasons as well as teams that rank the highest in their continental rankings.

2025 Mundial de Clubes FIFA: format

The tournament will feature an opening stage composed of eight groups of four teams per group playing in a single-Game round-robin format with the top two teams per group progressing to the round of 16.

FIFA will use the comPetition and the forthcoming 2024 Copa America as testing grounds ahead of the 2026 expanded 48-team World Cup which is set to be staged in Mexico, Canada and the US.

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Watching the 2025 Mundial de Clubes

Reports in the The New York Times suggest that Apple will pay US$1 billion for the rights to the new tournament but the mechanics of the deal and whether the venture would see somes games available on free-to-air yet to be ratified.

If the deal goes through, it would be Apple’s first major global broadcast deal since 2022 when they launched a ten-year partnership with Major League Soccer (MLS).

At present, the bulk of participating clubs are known with the likes of Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Manchester City, Al Hilal, Flamengo and Al Ahly just a few of the confirmed 32 teams who will play at the inaugural comPetition.