Negotiations between Apple and FIFA to organize the Club World Cup 2025 tournament - an activity to promote the 2026 World Cup - lasting 1 month in 2025 are said to have broken down.
According to Bloomberg, FIFA's ambition to host the new FIFA Club World Cup 2025 has encountered many obstacles as the agency is still trying to overcome some issues related to funding. However, the television royalties that Apple only accepts to pay to FIFA to broadcast the tournament on the company's online TV is only 1 billion USD, much lower than the 3-4 billion USD that FIFA hopes for. received from broadcast and streaming royalties.
Bloomberg sources indicate that negotiations with Apple have now stalled, perhaps due to the iPhone maker's unwillingness to increase its bid. FIFA is now considering splitting the rights into smaller packages to be sold to regional broadcasters rather than seeking a single entity - a move that could also help appease sponsors who have expressed concerns about the more limited reach of keeping the league behind a paywall.
As the deal is expected to help FIFA pay fees for participating teams, it creates a new problem for FIFA as the body is said to have asked clubs if they are willing to compete for the amount of money. less than originally expected or not.
At the present time, Apple has not commented, but a FIFA representative said the association has many other potential partners and is looking for all opportunities. A FIFA spokesman said: “FIFA is completely confident and convinced of the commercial and sporting success of the new tournament. FIFA is conducting regular and productive dialogue with relevant key partners including potential venues, media and commercial partners, and of course the clubs themselves.”
The FIFA Club World Cup was originally scheduled to launch in China three years ago but did not take place not only due to the pandemic but also because of the lack of interest in the sport among Chinese people. The Club World Cup 2025 is expected to be held in the US from June 15 to July 13 and FIFA said they have received the nod from 29/32 participating teams, including some famous teams such as Real Madrid, Manchester City, Bayern Munich, and Paris Saint-Germain.
The tournament is expected to include 12 teams from Europe, 6 teams from South America, 4 teams from Africa, 4 teams from Asia, 4 teams from North & Central America and the Caribbean, and 1 team from Oceania. This total is only 31 teams, but that is according to the announcement on the tournament page from FIFA.
According to Bloomberg, some player associations and club owners are not enthusiastic about the prospect of an additional tournament because it risks causing stress for players, causing players to be "overloaded" with too many top matches.