Despite World Cup buzz, ad dollars aren't flowing into the English Premier League

This summer's FIFA World Cup coverage on Fox drew 128 million viewers, helping push the network's most recent quarterly revenue up 28% to $4.2 billion. Even so, that surge of interest hasn't translated into the expected wave of ad spending on club football broadcasts such as the English Premier League.

"Things have been steady for a few years now — there hasn't been a big jump in football ad budgets," says Jim McNamara, senior vice president of national video investment at media agency Canvas. A media buyer at a major holding company, who asked to remain anonymous, agreed, saying "we haven't seen any uptick in demand or requests" — Premier League inventory is selling well, but demand is steady rather than surging.

That's notable given that many of the World Cup's breakout players ply their trade in the English Premier League — a dynamic already paying off for NBC's 2025-2026 coverage, the most-watched season in U.S. history, averaging 535,000 viewers per game. An April match between Arsenal and Manchester City drew a combined 2.6 million viewers across NBC, Peacock and Telemundo, according to Nielsen. Marti Blitch, head of U.S. sports investment and partnerships at WPP Media, describes the interest level as "high."

The opportunities for brands don't stop there — the Champions League returns this fall, putting World Cup standouts up against evenly matched European clubs rather than weaker opponents. Media buyers see the tournament as the next big opportunity to reach football fans through advertising.