Streaming platform Migu has secured broadcast rights in China to the Fifa Club World Cup in a direct deal spanning two editions, SportBusiness understands.
Migu unveiled its plans today (Thursday) to show the 2025 Club World Cup — the first edition of the expanded 32-team tournament — at a press launch in Beijing. The agreement is also understood to include the second edition in 2029.
Migu will broadcast all 63 matches from this year’s tournament and plans to showcase its latest technological innovation. It is understood that the final of each edition could be simulcast by Chinese state broadcaster CCTV, with discussions ongoing.
DAZN holds global rights to the 2025 Club World Cup, to be held in the US from June 14 to July 13. However, since the subscription broadcaster has no presence in China, it is understood that Fifa has negotiated the deal with Migu directly. The contract is understood to be between world football’s governing body and Migu, a subsidiary of telco China Mobile.
Fifa is also understood to be in negotiations with CCTV regarding a deal for next year’s men’s World Cup.
Migu has broadcast the Club World Cup before on a non-exclusive basis during the tournament’s previous incarnation as a much shorter and limited competition. The Club World Cup has also previously been streamed for free on Fifa+ in China.
An expansion of the Club World Cup was first mooted in 2016. In 2019, China was announced as the first host of an expanded 24-team competition. However, this expansion failed to materialise until, in December 2022, Fifa president Gianni Infantino announced the tournament would expand to 32 teams and be played in 2025.
Since its deal was unveiled in December, DAZN has been sublicensing rights to broadcasters ahead of the tournament. It intends to retain at least co-exclusivity to all Club World Cup matches.
Last month, Brazilian streaming platform CazéTV became the latest media company to secure non-exclusive rights to the tournament.
Prior to striking its deal with DAZN, Fifa had been targeting lucrative deals with broadcasters on a market-by-market basis. A full SportBusiness Media analysis of DAZN’s deal for Club World Cup rights can be read here.
Migu recently renewed its rights deal with World Table Tennis, the commercial arm of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF), to 2028. This followed a deal for rights to the Premier League from 2025-26 to 2027-28.