Broadcasters navigate 'crazy' scale of expanded World Cup

The 2026 World Cup, a sprawling 104-match, 39-day event across three North American nations, presents unprecedented challenges not just for players, but for the broadcasters tasked with covering its every moment. This tournament has shattered records for revenue and reach, with over 100 networks broadcasting to 223 territories and FIFA projecting more than six billion media engagements.

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This tournament is crazy. The number of teams, the volume of matches, the travel, the different nations ... this competition has tested our skills in new ways.

Match commentators are at the forefront of this demanding operation, shuttling between 16 host cities. Each game requires hours of detailed homework to prepare them to narrate the stories of every team and player to millions. For veteran BBC commentator Steve Bower, the scale of this World Cup is unlike anything he has experienced in three decades.

"This tournament is crazy," Bower told Reuters. "The number of teams, the volume of matches, the travel, the different nations ... this competition has tested our skills in new ways." New hurdles include identifying players in massive NFL stadiums, sometimes while they wear identical fluorescent pink boots. Maintaining focus amid the drama is critical, especially with simultaneous matches and the complex permutations of the new group stage format, which includes qualification for the best third-place finishers.

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Experience helps you handle those situations better but the responsibility remains. The adrenaline gets you through the broadcast, but there's always a degree of nervous energy.

Behind the composed on-air delivery lies a degree of nervous energy. "Experience helps you handle those situations better but the responsibility remains," Bower said. "The adrenaline gets you through the broadcast, but there's always a degree of nervous energy." Host nation broadcasters are also elevating their game to an unprecedented level, with U.S. Spanish-language broadcaster Telemundo operating World Cup studios in Mexico City, Miami, and New York, employing 80 on-air personnel and 1,400 production staff. Canada's Bell Media, co-hosting the event, has prepared extensively since 2023, establishing sets in Vancouver, Toronto, and Montreal, and maintaining a presence at FIFA's broadcast mission control in Dallas.

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It's a tremendously logistics-heavy operation. There's a responsibility and an obligation that we take seriously to get it right and do right by Canada.