Mexico warns businesses: Get World Cup broadcast licenses or face fines

Businesses in Mexico are being warned about potential fines for improperly using FIFA World Cup 2026 branding. Octavio de la Torre, president of the Confederation of Chambers of Commerce, Services, and Tourism (Concanaco), urged businesses to secure proper licenses for broadcasting the event in public venues like restaurants, hotels, and bars.

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for businesses, the risk is not just in using a logo. It can also be in a phrase, an image, a design, a promotion, or a campaign that generates confusion and makes it appear that there is an official alliance when there is not.

The campaign "Don't let them score a goal" aims to educate businesses on what is permissible. De la Torre emphasized that using official logos, slogans, or promotional campaigns that suggest an official alliance with FIFA or its sponsors is prohibited. While businesses can celebrate the sport with decorations, special menus, and by inviting patrons to watch, they must not present themselves as officially affiliated.

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Promoting football is one thing, appearing to be an official sponsor is another. It is possible, of course, to celebrate the football passion, to decorate, to create menus and promotions, to invite to the match, what should not be done is to sell oneself as if there were an official relationship with FIFA, with the World Cup, with its sponsors.

Concanaco seeks an "orderly, formal, secure, and legally certain" celebration of the World Cup, focusing on protecting and guiding businesses to capitalize on the opportunity. Regarding the cost of broadcasting rights, which restaurateurs estimate between 5,000 and 20,000 pesos, De la Torre indicated that businesses might adjust food and beverage prices to cover these expenses, passing the cost to consumers.

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We want a great party, but also an orderly, formal, secure party with legal certainty. The goal is not to limit businesses. The goal is to protect them, guide them, and help them take advantage of the opportunity.

The organization has appealed to rights holders, including Televisa, Sky, Izzi, and VIX, to develop commercial schemes and licensing agreements with accessible prices for micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises, especially family-run businesses. The goal is for these businesses to benefit from the tournament, scheduled from June 11 to July 14, while ensuring compliance with regulations.

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We make a respectful call to the holders of transmission rights and authorized providers, in the case of Televisa transmissions through Sky, Izzi, and VIX and the authorized providers to design commercial schemes, licenses, and prices that generate accessible prices for micro, small, and medium-sized businesses, especially for family businesses.