World Cup TV rights holders say they have repeatedly asked FIFA for one piece of practical information and still have not got it: how long the halftime interval at the World Cup final will be.
Commercial broadcasters told FIFA they need a firm number because their advertising teams are already selling inventory tied to the break in play. Rights holders expected the curated musical set itself to run about 12 to 15 minutes, but warned the full interval could stretch to between 25 and 30 minutes once stage assembly and removal are factored in — well beyond the usual 15-minute limit.
The halftime show at MetLife Stadium, curated by Chris Martin, will feature Madonna, Shakira and BTS and is the first-ever halftime spectacle planned for a World Cup final. The uncertainty over the interval is not hypothetical: last year, Martin’s surprise Club World Cup performance at the same venue saw the break in play last 24 minutes.
That gap matters because the laws of the game, overseen by the International Football Association Board, state players are entitled to a half-time interval not exceeding 15 minutes unless the referee permits otherwise. Broadcasters’ commercial teams cannot guarantee fixed-length ad spots against an interval that may be doubled by staging operations — a logistical and contractual headache with ad sales already underway.
Rights holders say they have asked FIFA multiple times for clarity and are concerned the organisation has not provided the schedule detail they need. With the World Cup final scheduled for July 19 in East Rutherford, New Jersey, buyers want to know what they are buying: a conventional 15-minute halftime slot, a slightly longer spectacle, or something approaching a 30-minute production window.
The friction is practical, not aesthetic. The show is intended as a major spectacle to appeal to the American market and to expand pre-match entertainment across the tournament; FIFA has increased such programming. But football’s rules and broadcasters’ commercial needs are not the same thing. One consequence of uncertainty is that networks will likely have to sell more flexible inventory or reserve unsold minutes as contingency — both of which affect revenue and campaign planning.
There is also cultural pushback. Noel Gallagher, speaking on TalkSport, said he would not be watching the Martin-curated halftime and mocked the idea of changing the game’s fabric: "I’m doing the half-time raffle for a leg of lamb," he said. "I don’t like changes in football. I don’t like the razzmatazz of football; it’s been functioning perfectly for hundreds of years. They’re not really football people who are performing anyway, are they?" His comments underline that the spectacle element has opponents as well as commercial beneficiaries.
For viewers the practical detail is simple: the performers and the scale of the production are set, but the interval that will contain them has not been confirmed. That leaves rights holders, broadcasters and advertisers in a holding pattern as the July 19 final approaches.
The next decisive move rests with FIFA. If it specifies an interval that exceeds the 15-minute standard, networks will require written confirmation well before final ad inventory is locked; if FIFA leaves the timing vague, broadcasters will have to sell flexible slots or absorb the risk. The single unresolved question now is whether FIFA will announce the halftime timing soon enough for commercial plans to be firmed up, or force broadcasters to improvise on the eve of the sport’s biggest match.
