JTBC vows uninterrupted World Cup coverage amid financial turmoil

JTBC rebuffed reports that its 2026 North America World Cup coverage could be suspended due to unpaid broadcast rights fees, calling the claims "false information." The broadcaster says its financial difficulties — including a debt default and the launch of court receivership proceedings — will not disrupt its World Cup broadcasts.

"We plan to broadcast all matches of the 2026 FIFA North America World Cup without interruption, through to the final," JTBC said Wednesday.

The broadcaster added that it would "deliver live coverage from the World Cup, from South Korea's matches all the way to the final," urging viewers to "avoid any confusion caused by false information."

Earlier, Japanese broadcaster TBS reported that JTBC, which holds South Korean broadcast rights to the World Cup, had failed to pay FIFA a portion of the rights fees, raising the possibility that coverage could be cut off from the round of 32 onward.

TBS said JTBC had fallen into financial difficulty due to soaring rights fees and sluggish sublicensing sales, and had entered court receivership proceedings last week. It added that JTBC officials had traveled to Switzerland to negotiate with FIFA over maintaining the broadcasts.

The prospect of a broadcast blackout stems from a combination of factors: the fiscal strain facing JTBC and other JoongAng Group affiliates, the steep cost of the rights fees, and difficulties in sublicensing negotiations.

JTBC declared a debt default on June 12 after failing to repay 20.6 billion won ($13.4 million) in securitized borrowings at maturity. Two days later, key group affiliates — including JoongAng Holdings, ContentreeJoongAng, JoongAng P&I and Megabox JoongAng — filed for court receivership. JTBC itself followed the next day.

As the financial crisis deepens, industry observers have begun questioning JTBC's aggressive strategy of investing heavily in sports broadcast rights.

Even as FIFA and other major sports bodies have steadily raised rights fees, the JoongAng Group paid premium prices to secure Olympic broadcast rights through 2032 and FIFA World Cup rights for 2026 and 2030.

Sublicensing of those rights — acquired at a cost of hundreds of billions of won — has fallen well short of expectations, and monetization through sponsorships has also struggled, leaving the group scrambling to recoup its investment. KBS is the only broadcaster that purchased sublicensing rights from JTBC for the current North America World Cup, in a deal worth approximately 14 billion won ($10.2 million).