The Georgian Public Broadcaster (GPB, First Channel of Georgia) has clarified the situation regarding the broadcasting rights for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, following significant public interest in the matter.
It was explained that in 2023, GPB announced its intention to acquire the license for the tournament and initiated the relevant negotiations.
Broadcasting rights are distributed through a closed FIFA tender involving interested media companies. In this instance, First Channel participated in the process under the auspices of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which represents the interests of broadcasters from various European countries, including Georgia, and coordinates price offers.
In the tender, GPB acted as a comprehensive broadcaster, aiming to secure exclusive rights to show all matches across its platforms—television, radio, and digital resources—via both free-to-air signal and satellite broadcasting, ensuring the widest possible audience access.
According to the Public Broadcaster, it consistently increased its offer during the bidding process: the initial bid was 61% higher than the cost of the 2022 World Cup license, then the amount was increased by another 20%, and ultimately the offer was double the price of the previous tournament. Despite this, the tender was won by a private media platform that offered more favorable commercial terms to FIFA and secured broadcasting rights for several countries in the region, including Georgia.
Under these circumstances, First Channel reports that since the conclusion of the tender, it has been in negotiations with the rights holder to acquire a sub-license for broadcasting the matches in Georgia via open access. These negotiations are currently ongoing, and no final decision has been reached yet.
«It should be noted that the first bid made by First Channel was 61% higher than the cost of the 2022 World Cup license. During the bidding process, the broadcaster increased the amount by another 20% in the second stage, ultimately offering FIFA double the amount for the 2026 license.
Despite this, due to FIFA’s commercial interests, the tender was won with a higher price by a private broadcasting platform, which acquired the license for the territory of several countries in the region, including Georgia.
We inform the public that negotiations have been underway with this company since that day to acquire a sub-license for broadcasting via an open signal on the territory of Georgia. At this time, the negotiations have not yet been concluded», — the GPB statement says.