On Monday, FIFA strengthened its commercial connections with the betting industry by announcing a four-year agreement allowing select gambling operators to livestream World Cup matches this year.
This partnership with data provider Stats Perform, which includes the soccer stats firm Opta, will extend through 2029 for various FIFA competitions. The agreement enables the distribution of official betting data and livestreams to registered users.
In addition, the agreement provides exclusive betting rights for thousands of matches per season across competitions governed by FIFA Member Associations and powered by FIFA+, although the financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed.
The FIFA+ platform, which offers coverage of select FIFA events, lower-tier leagues, and highlights from much of the World Cup archive, has partnered with the Saudi Arabia-backed streaming service DAZN.
Despite FIFA’s ethics code explicitly prohibiting players, officials, and agents from engaging in any form of betting, gambling, lotteries, or related activities tied to football matches or competitions, the organization continues to forge commercial collaborations with the gambling sector.
Previously, FIFA’s association with gambling for the World Cup was limited to a regional sponsorship deal in Europe during the 2022 World Cup held in Qatar.
Chicago-based Stats Perform indicated it would provide FIFA betting data to licensed sports betting operators for modeling, trading, settlement, and in-game front-end applications. Its subsidiary, Opta, will deliver “official player statistics, insights, live scores, and match trackers” to clients in the gambling industry.
The men’s World Cup is set to kick off on June 11 in Mexico City, featuring 48 teams competing in 104 matches across the United States, Canada, and Mexico until July 19.