A couple of days ago, I subscribed to Zee5, in anticipation of the FIFA World Cup matches.
A related but unrelated thought crossed my mind that instant… If I'm willing to spend ₹799 on a subscription to Zee5, should I also be looking at the shares of its parent, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd, which are trading at around ₹100?
Recent research from Nielsen shows that football is the second most popular sport among Indian adults, with 50% ranking it as their favourite after cricket, prior to the FIFA World Cup 2026. (https://bestmediainfo.com/insights/50-of-indian-adults-rank-football-as-second-favourite-sport-ahead-of-fifa-world-cup-2026-11879040)
And yet the story behind the broadcasting rights was hardly a bidding war.
JioStar dropped out due to a valuation clash, and with no other takers, Zee swooped in with a last-minute $40 million deal, ending months of anxiety for Indian football fans.
But can we really blame broadcasters for this tepid interest?
The tournament is hosted in North America, so late-night match times in India make it hard for them to justify the massive fees.
A more relevant reality is that India will not be playing.
The Indian men's national football team is currently ranked 138th in the world, as per the official FIFA Men's World Ranking and (only?!) 48 countries play for the World Cup. Our best rank was 94th three decades ago.
The only time that India actually qualified for the FIFA World Cup was in 1950, that too because all other teams in their Asian qualifying group withdrew. And even then, the AIFF chose not to attend the tournament in Brazil, citing the high travel costs and the team's priority to prepare for the Asian Games and Olympics.
It’s a little embarrassing that a country with the world's largest youth population (~371 million young people aged 15 to 29) could not pull together 11 world-class players. Curaçao, a tiny Caribbean nation with a total population of 0.16 million, qualified!
We have a long way to go in a lot of fields (pun intended) -education, health, infra, urban planning, and of course we’re catching up rapidly.
So, while I hope to see India play in a FIFA World Cup match in the near future, this time I will make the most of my subscription by watching most of the matches telecast at 'earthly hours' and cheering for whichever team merits my applause.
Disclaimer: The views expressed are personal and for informational purposes only. They do not reflect any institutional stance and should not be construed as investment advice or a recommendation.
