The 2026 World Cup and its 'slices' for the young industry: Learning from the market

Typically, the World Cup is seen as "something for football." In Vietnamese sports, the focus is often on Olympic qualifications and Asian Games medal disputes. Yet, the World Cup serves as a massive learning platform for top-tier sports, a phenomenon that can be applied across all sectors.

Vietnam Television (VTV) announcing it holds the rights and will broadcast all 104 matches of the 2026 World Cup across multiple platforms is not merely good news for viewers.

Looking at the presentations from the Vietnam Sports Economic Forum (VSES 2026) held at the end of March, this is a significant economic indicator. It not only reveals the exploitation capabilities of major media units but also highlights a vast gap that domestic sports have overlooked for decades: the ability to manage copyrights and utilize user data.

According to a Nielsen report, Vietnam has the highest percentage of the population interested in football in Asia (75%). During each World Cup, tens of millions of Vietnamese sit in front of screens. What is their age? Income? Which device do they use? Do they watch at home or at a cafe? Live or on replay?

This data is extremely valuable—not just for selling ads on VTV, but also as a "data funnel" for other sports federations to understand how to reach their potential audiences. Of course, that requires a desire to do so and a suitable approach.

Unfortunately, in Vietnam, the concept of leveraging user data is hardly considered. High-performance sports remain a matter for "managing bodies," while recreational sports, which attract millions, have no voice in strategy. Who watches volleyball? Who watches badminton? Who watches athletics? Most other sports are "swimming" on their own without any guidance from the big data players.

Meanwhile, over decades of broadcasting the World Cup, from free analog transmissions where viewership was measured only by market research firms, digital platforms now allow comprehensive control and filtering of user data through at least the last 2-3 World Cups across diverse platforms. The question now is whether to share that data—and with whom.

On another note: Acquiring broadcasting rights for a major event like the World Cup has never been a simple matter of "paying the money." Behind it are thick documents with strict technical regulations, geo-blocking barriers, and commitments to combat online piracy. Yet, precisely under the pressure of these stringent international partner demands, Vietnam's image production units have had the opportunity to experience a "great school."

We learn the mindset of building an ecosystem, methods for synchronized multi-platform broadcasting, and absolute control over access rights. More importantly, from these international standards, broadcasters learn to upgrade accompanying content (in-depth commentary, behind-the-scenes content, digital interaction) to optimize the experience and retain viewers as long as possible. Conversely, users also develop standard habits for "consuming" sports products.

In other words, Vietnam's sports-viewing market now has both data and tools to take the final step: monetization. Moreover, copyright and intellectual property are increasingly tightened by regulatory bodies. With the "business environment" factor addressed, the remaining question is who will "put fish in the pond" to generate revenue.

Take table tennis as an example—a sport easily recorded and widely broadcast on social media platforms with low quality and vague copyrights, leading to loss of control. As a result, audiences cannot distinguish between official tournaments and unofficial "street" events. Yet table tennis has considerable "resources," with six official high-level tournaments each year. That means the "material" is there—the key is to use user data on digital platforms to "package" content: deciding what to sell and what to promote.

And it's not just table tennis...