The channel achieved an audience record thanks to the broadcast of the World Cup, but the cost of the rights calls into question the final profitability.
Since the start of the 2026 Football World Cup, M6 has experienced unprecedented success in terms of audience. With 58 million viewers since the start of the competition, M6 has recorded the best audiences in its history. This figure marks a turning point for the channel, which has established itself as a major player in free-to-air sports broadcasting in France.
An exceptional device for a global event
The 2026 World Cup, which began on June 11, also represents a major challenge in terms of television audiences and economic benefits for broadcasters. M6 offers a total of 54 of the 104 matches, including all of the French team’s matches, while beIN Sports holds the entire competition on pay channels. This system allowed the channel to reach a very wide audience.
During the first week of July, the channel recorded its best weekly audience since its creation in 1987. The Blues’ journey to the semi-final made it possible to attract additional advertisers in the home stretch.
Behind this audience success lies a considerable financial investment. The figure is not official, but it is estimated at nearly 120 million euros paid to the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) for the purchase of broadcast rights. To this sum are added the costs of production, realization and logistical organization.
TF1, historic broadcaster of the competition since 1978, had chosen not to outbid to obtain the rights to broadcast the World Cup, judging the investment too costly and, ultimately, insufficiently profitable.
The real financial benefits for the channel come from advertising. On this point, the group exceeded its turnover objectives. According to the CEO of M6, the advertising revenues collected before the semi-finals have already exceeded those achieved by France Télévisions during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, which amounted to 104 million euros. An amount, however, insufficient to make all production and distribution costs profitable. Cooling breaks, these three-minute interruptions introduced to allow players to hydrate, accounted for more than 20% of advertising revenue linked to matches.
The 20-second advertising spot was billed for 315,000 euros during the French team’s first match against Senegal on June 16. Prices then climbed throughout the Blues’ career: during the semi-final against Spain, the management billed 390,000 euros for 20 seconds in the screens broadcast during refreshment breaks, or 429,000 euros for a 30-second format, a record for French television.
Caution displayed on profitability
Despite these results, the profitability of the operation remains uncertain. In an interview with the newspaper L’Equipe and published Tuesday July 14, the CEO of M6, David Larramendy, recognized that the World Cup would not be profitable, while describing the competition as the biggest advertising event in history.
The competition is not over, however, and we will have to wait for the presentation of M6’s financial results, scheduled for July 28, 2026, to draw up a definitive assessment of this operation. The Blues lost to Spain (0-2) in the semi-final on Tuesday July 14 in Dallas, and will play the match for third place on Saturday in Miami.
