The two most populous countries in the world, China and India, still have not reached an agreement with FIFA on World Cup broadcast rights.
CCTV's budget may only be around 60 to 80 million USD (approximately 234 to 313 million MYR), and even though FIFA has already lowered the offer to about 120 to 150 million USD (around 469 to 586 million MYR), there is still a huge psychological gap between the two sides. Under these circumstances, both parties have yet to reach an agreement on television broadcast rights.
On the other hand, FIFA offered India a bundled price for two World Cups at only 35 million USD (approx. 137 million MYR), but India is only willing to pay 20 million USD (about 78.16 million MYR).
Neither the Chinese nor Indian teams made it to the World Cup, and even with the expansion to 48 teams, the event’s attractiveness in China and India is still greatly reduced. Furthermore, this World Cup is being held in the Americas, so most of the most-watched matches fall during midnight or morning hours Malaysia time, making advertisers even less willing to invest. With the tournament imminent and negotiations still at an impasse, the advertising window has already been missed, inevitably resulting in the loss of sponsors.
In response to CCTV's refusal to compromise, Chinese netizens are actually cheering. It’s obvious that FIFA is 'tailoring prices to different countries.' Taking advantage of the fact that Chinese companies love sponsorships, face, and football, FIFA is trying to cash in twice—charging CCTV for copyright fees, and then charging Chinese companies again for sponsorship fees.