In an official statement on June 24, JTBC asserted, "We will continue to broadcast all matches of the ongoing 2026 FIFA North America World Cup, including the final. We aim to provide live coverage of the South Korean team's games and the tournament's conclusion, so please disregard any misinformation."
The controversy over broadcast rights was sparked by a report from Japanese media. On June 23, TBS News reported that JTBC, which is broadcasting all World Cup matches in South Korea, had failed to pay part of the broadcast rights fees to FIFA, the tournament's organizing body.
TBS also claimed that if the outstanding payments are not made by the deadline, TV broadcasts in South Korea could be completely halted starting with the Round of 32 matches on June 29.
The report highlighted JTBC's severe financial difficulties as a backdrop to the unpaid fees.
JTBC secured domestic broadcast rights for the tournament for approximately $125 million (about 190 billion won) and attempted to negotiate resale rights with the three major broadcasters (KBS, MBC, SBS) but faced challenges. Ultimately, JTBC entered into a joint broadcasting agreement with KBS, but it is reported that KBS paid around 14 billion won for the rights.
Due to difficulties in monetizing these rights, JTBC has been under increasing financial pressure and filed for corporate rehabilitation last week.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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