RTÉ has announced that it has secured exclusive free-to-air rights to the 2030 FIFA World Cup, following its successful run airing the 2026 World Cup, sponsored by Heineken 0.0.
The 2030 tournament will be hosted across Spain, Portugal and Morocco, with three centenary games to be held in South America.
Football fans across Ireland tuned into RTÉ’s coverage of the World Cup as Spain edged out Argentina in the finals to claim the championship.
The final generated over 1.4 million streams on RTÉ Player, thus making it the most-streamed single event in the platform’s history.
Across the tournament as a whole, audiences generated 23.4 million streams – an increase of almost 15 million streams and nearly three times the audience achieved during the 2022 FIFA World Cup (8.5 million streams).
The top performing matches were Spain v Argentina, England v Argentina, France v Spain, and England v Norway.*
Online
Throughout the tournament, there were 91 million video views across all of RTÉ’s social platforms covering the event, including over 6.8 million views of highlights, as well as analysis on the RTÉ Sport YouTube channel.
As many of the matches took place late at night, RTÉ Player generated 1.6 million streams on RTÉ Player, while other FIFA World Cup content – including unseen moments, clips and Up All Night – added 345k additional streams on the platform.
'One Of Our Big Success Stories’
Speaking about the success of the tournament, director general of RTÉ Kevin Bakhurst said, “We are delighted that RTÉ has been successful in securing rights to the 2030 FIFA World Cup for Irish audiences after what has been a very successful 2026 World Cup with record numbers of people enjoying RTÉ’s coverage.
“From the first game through to the final, audiences have come to RTÉ in large numbers for our coverage and analysis of every single game, but also for our World Cup highlights on RTÉ Player and YouTube, our podcasts, Up All Night on RTÉ Player, and more.
“The huge number of streams on RTÉ Player throughout the tournament has been one of our big success stories this year and has highlighted the value of our investment in the service in recent years.
“We look forward to bringing the next FIFA World Cup to Irish audiences, including the Republic of Ireland’s qualification campaign which we hope will be successful.
“Live sport – free to air – continues to provide national moments and conversations – enjoyment and entertainment to Irish audiences – paid for by your licence fee, public funding and commercial revenue.”
‘Exceptional Month Of Sporting Coverage’
Head of sport at RTÉ, Declan Bennett, also commented, saying, “Yesterday was a memorable day for RTÉ Sport, with the All-Ireland Hurling Final and the 2026 FIFA World Cup Final bringing an exciting day of live sport to audiences.
“More broadly, it has been an exceptional month of sporting coverage, including RTÉ’s most extensive FIFA World Cup broadcast operation to date, delivering all 104 matches with a uniquely Irish overview.
“The strong response across television, RTÉ Player, digital and social platforms reflect the enduring appetite for live sport in Ireland.
“We look forward to bringing audiences more major sporting moments in the years ahead as part of RTÉ’s public service remit, including the FIFA World Cup in 2030.”
* Viewing figures: Spain v Argentina (average audience of 1 million, 65% share on RTÉ2, and 1.4 million streams on RTÉ Player), England v Argentina (average audience 949k, 60% share on RTÉ2 and 1 million streams on RTÉ Player), France v Spain (average audience of 873k, 61% share on RTÉ2, and 1 million streams on RTÉ Player), and England v Norway (average audience of 787k, 72% share on RTÉ2 and 1 million streams on RTÉ Player).
- Sarah O'Sullivan
