Commenting on Mediacorp’s 2026 World Cup coverage deal, SMU Associate Professor of Marketing (Education) Seshan Ramaswami noted that as the solo terrestrial broadcaster, Mediacorp is under pressure to hold on to its audience. Assoc Prof Ramaswami expressed his scepticism about whether fans will fork out for paid World Cup packages as Mediacorp announces that 28 matches would be aired for free, reducing the attractiveness of alternative packages for the viewer. He said that given the late night/early morning timings of the event, free-to-air might mean that the needs of a vast majority of fans would already be met by the free service. He added that this may lead to a price hike for packages, as only the very keen fans would be interested in access to the entire tournament, and they would be willing to pay for that privilege.
