New Delhi, June 5 -- When the world's most marketable sports event struggles to find a broadcaster in one of the world's largest TV markets, it speaks of a fundamental change in the consumption of the world's most popular sport. After months in limbo, FIFA finally sold the Indian broadcast rights to the 2026 World Cup (WC) to Zee Entertainment on 1 June, a mere 11 days before it begins. Sure, football in India suffers from not being cricket. But the World Cup?

Doordarshan carried a live telecast of the semifinals and the final of the 1982 World Cup (WC) in Spain. All the matches of the 1986 WC and subsequent iterations were broadcast live in India. Much before the tragic figure of Roberto Baggio, the pony-tailed maestro hanging his head ...