Overview
- FIFA has authorized two mandatory hydration breaks per match, around the 22nd minute of the first half and the 67th minute of the second, and rights holders are allowed to sell roughly two minutes of ad time during each pause.
- Industry estimates put the extra advertising take at roughly $500–600 million across the tournament, with some broadcasters projecting even larger returns for key markets and the final.
- Powerade/The Coca‑Cola Company is highly visible in the breaks after a 2025 settlement that kept the brand as a FIFA partner in place through 2030 and was valued by analysts at about $400 million.
- Broadcasters in big markets are charging premium rates for those slots and using multiple ads per break, with local reports citing very high per‑second prices such as claims made by Argentine networks.
- The measure traces to heat‑safety rules introduced after the 2014 World Cup, but player complaints and fan concern that the pauses disrupt play have grown as the breaks are repackaged into lucrative commercial inventory.