JTBC dismisses reports it may lose World Cup broadcast rights over unpaid fees

JTBC has pushed back against reports that it may be forced to suspend its World Cup broadcasts after failing to pay part of its rights fees to FIFA, calling the claims "false information."

In a statement Tuesday, the broadcaster said it would air all matches through the final of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which is currently underway. "We plan to bring you every moment of the World Cup — from South Korea's matches to the very last game of the tournament — so please do not be misled by false information," JTBC said.

Japan's TBS News reported June 22 that JTBC had failed to pay part of its broadcast rights fees to FIFA, warning that South Korea could lose coverage of the round-of-32 knockout stage onward — beginning June 29 — if payment was not made by the agreed deadline. TBS also reported that a JTBC representative had traveled to Switzerland to negotiate with FIFA over maintaining the broadcast.

JTBC acquired the exclusive domestic broadcast rights to the World Cup for approximately 190 billion won ($124 million). The network had planned to offset the cost by sublicensing the rights to other broadcasters, but negotiations over pricing broke down, and deals with MBC and SBS fell through. JTBC secured only 14 billion won by selling co-broadcast rights to KBS and about 30 billion won by selling digital streaming rights to Naver.

Facing a severe cash crunch, JTBC declared default on June 12 and filed for court receivership, with proceedings now underway. Four other core affiliates of the JoongAng Group — JoongAng Holdings, JoongAng P&I, Megabox Joonggang and ContentreeJoongAng — are also in receivership, while JoongAng Ilbo has filed for a workout program after its commercial paper went into default.

Meanwhile, the South Korean national team, led by head coach Hong Myung-bo, sits second in Group A with one win and one loss. Its fate in the round of 32 will be decided Wednesday, when it faces South Africa in its final group-stage match.