Fox’s World Cup broadcast endured a chaotic opening on Thursday after the network went to commercial during the first two matches, causing viewers to miss portions of the action.
Coverage of the tournament opener in Mexico City, where co-hosts Mexico faced South Africa, had already frustrated fans when Fox did not air Shakira’s pregame on-field performance.
That irritation quickly escalated. The US broadcaster drew further backlash by running ads during both mid-half hydration breaks, which commentator Ian Darke introduced as being “powered by Powerade.”
Following a stretch of full-screen commercials, Fox returned in the second half of the Mexico-South Africa match three seconds after play had already restarted.
The mistake sparked an angry reaction from viewers, many of whom turned to social media to criticize the network’s handling of the broadcast.
One fan wrote: “Fox Sports was playing so many commercials during the hydration break that the game restarted before they were done. Enough, man. Stop this f***ing nonsense.”
Fox angered World Cup viewers by cutting to a commercial during a hydration break in the opening match between Mexico and South Africa
The network also showed four of its analysts – Rebecca Lowe, Thierry Henry, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Alexi Lalas (left to right) – instead of a pregame Shakira performance
‘Is @FOXSports seriously showing commercials in the middle of a half of World Cup football? What the f*** is going on? This is embarrassing,’ said another.
‘Commercial breaks mid match during the hydration breaks are going to ruin this world cup for Americans. Disgusting practice from Fox….’ posted a third.
While another fan simply asked: ‘@FOXSoccer just played full-screen commercials during the hydration break. Please never do that again.’
According to The Athletic’s Henry Bushnell, FIFA’s rules for broadcasters during hydration breaks are that any cut-away ad break should not start within 20 seconds of the referee’s whistle pausing play, and the match feed should return more than 30 seconds before play resumes.
Fox’s timings broke those rules in the first match of 104 it will show over the next five weeks, and they failed to follow FIFA’s regulations again in the second.
When South Korea faced Czechia in Guadalajara later on Thursday evening, Fox again chose to cut away from their coverage in the first hydration break, but they did so within 20 seconds of the referee’s whistle before returning merely a couple of seconds prior to the restart.
It is unclear whether there will be any punishment from FIFA over the rule breaks.
Hydration breaks have been introduced at this summer’s World Cup to combat extreme temperatures after a heat wave at the Club World Cup in the US last year.
Ahead of the major international tournament, FIFA brought in mandatory three-minute hydration breaks for all matches, even games that are taking place in an arena with a retractable roof.
Fox missed three seconds of play on the field after returning from one of the ad breaks
Shakira’s performance in the opening ceremony was also not picked up on their coverage
Unlike Fox, Telemundo – the Spanish-language rightsholder in the US – promised to not cut to full-screen commercials during the hydration breaks, although it could use some picture-in-picture ads.
Sports Business Journal reported on Thursday that Fox will use some of the hydration breaks for commercials and others for mid-game analysis.
The broadcasters also came under fire for not showing the performance featuring Shakira as well as Burna Boy, J Balvin and other artists. Telemundo, meanwhile, showed it in full.
Fox instead cut to four of its World Cup analysts – including soccer legends Thierry Henry and Zlatan Ibrahimovic – from an empty stadium in Los Angeles during the performance.
FIFA organized opening ceremonies ahead of the first match for each of the three host nations, with Fox airing other parts of it from Mexico City – including a procession of flags from the tournament’s 48 nations and a performance by Andrea Bocelli.
Mexico ran out 2-0 winners in the opening match of the World Cup, with South Africa reduced to nine men after two red cards. The hosts also received a late sending off.
