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ITV has gained an early advantage over the BBC before their ratings battle at this summer’s World Cup by securing a studio in Brooklyn with views of the Manhattan skyline and Brooklyn Bridge. ITV Sport will be basing all of its World Cup coverage, to be presented by Mark Pougatch and Laura Woods, from its New York studio, whereas the BBC team of Mark Chapman, Gabby Logan and Kelly Cates will be in Salford until at least the quarter-finals.
The BBC’s decision to stay in the United Kingdom was based on a combination of financial and environmental factors, with the corporation committed to limiting air travel in an attempt to reduce its carbon footprint.
The expansion of the World Cup to 48 teams and 104 matches, from 32 and 64 respectively, and Fifa’s decision to stage it in the United States, Canada and Mexico have significantly affected cost and travel logistics, playing a big role in the BBC’s thinking.
ITV is taking a different approach with plans to make a virtue of its New York location by filming travelogues and mini documentaries to support its live coverage. Gary Neville, Roy Keane and Ian Wright have been lined up as pundits and will be in the US throughout.
ITV, as part of their deal with the BBC, will show 51 matches to the BBC’s 54. These include England’s opening game against Croatia, in Dallas, on 17 June, their final group match against Panama and Scotland’s fixture against Morocco on 19 June.
ITV has three quarter-finals, including the first two picks, but the BBC has the first pick of the semi-finals and will have England’s games in the last 32 and last 16 should they qualify. Both broadcasters will show the final.
The BBC historically achieves better ratings than ITV when they go head-to-head, gaining a peak audience of 15 million for the 2022 World Cup final between Argentina and France, compared with ITV’s 4.3 million.
ITV has large viewing figures for football when it is the sole broadcaster, with a peak of 10.2 million watching England’s Women’s Euro 2025 semi-final win over Italy last summer, its biggest audience of the year at that point.
