The FIFA 2026 World Cup added close to 6 million streaming subscribers in North America

Between 11 June and 19 July 2026, the FIFA World Cup generated close to 6 million net streaming subscribers across North America, according to Dataxis estimates.

Almost all went to a few SVOD apps that owned the rights –  FoxOne (US, English Speaking), Peacock (US, Spanish Speaking) and Crave / TSN / RDS (Canada) – and shared them with their other linear channels: Fox and FS1 (Fox Corp), Telemundo, Universo (NBCUniversal) and Bell’s channels. In the end, the final, Spain-Argentina, drew 66.4 million US viewers, the most-watched soccer game in the USA’s history. Did the tournament build lasting streaming businesses, or rent audiences that leave once the tournament ends?

As seen on the above chart, net additions of direct rights-owning streamers jumped, while the vMVPDs that only carried Fox and Telemundo’s channels gained little subscribers. Carriage brought viewers but little new subscribers.