[Edaily Lee So-Hyun Yun Junghoon Reporter] While JTBC has denied the possibility of suspending its broadcast of the “2026 FIFA North and Central America World Cup,” Naver (NAVER(035420)), which holds the exclusive domestic online live streaming rights, has stated through its streaming platform Chizichik that it will continue to provide stable broadcasts.

On the 24th, Naver stated, “We are closely monitoring the situation regarding World Cup broadcasting rights and conducting ongoing reviews,” adding, “We are preparing to ensure that future matches, including the broadcast of the third match against South Africa on the 25th, can be streamed stably on Chijijik.”

Naver secured the online and mobile broadcasting rights for the 2026 FIFA North and Central America World Cup from JTBC and is broadcasting key matches on Chizichik. With 48 nations participating for the first time in history and 104 matches scheduled, the tournament is the longest in history, spanning 39 days. Industry estimates put the World Cup broadcasting rights fee that Naver is set to pay JTBC at around 400억 won. Analysts estimate that, out of the approximately 190 billion won in total broadcasting rights fees secured by JTBC, the portion allocated for digital resale amounts to about 40 billion won after subtracting the expected shares for terrestrial broadcasters and the JoongAng Group.

Earlier, Japan’s TBS reported that JTBC had failed to pay a portion of its World Cup broadcasting rights fees to FIFA, and warned that if the payment was not settled by the deadline, TV broadcasts in South Korea could be suspended starting with the Round of 32, which begins on the 29th.

In response, JTBC denied the possibility of any broadcast disruptions and stated its intention to broadcast this World Cup through the final.

However, within the group—which is currently undergoing restructuring—sports broadcasting rights contracts have emerged as a major variable. It is reported that during a hearing with the Seoul Bankruptcy Court on the 23rd, JTBC presented a plan to the court to renegotiate broadcasting rights with FIFA and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as a self-rescue measure to alleviate its financial burden. Since the costs of securing broadcasting rights for major sporting events such as the World Cup are cited as one of the factors contributing to the financial strain, whether these contracts can be adjusted is expected to become a key issue in the restructuring process.

Broadcasting rights fees for major sporting events like the World Cup are typically contracted on an installment basis, with payments spread out over several installments linked to the progress of the tournament. Since there have been cases where FIFA has agreed to adjust payment schedules in consideration of broadcasters’ financial circumstances, observers note that whether actual broadcasts will be disrupted depends on the outcome of negotiations between FIFA and JTBC.

Naver’s “Chijichik” Sees World Cup Success… Over 4 Million Concurrent Viewers for Two Consecutive KUKJEON Matches

From Naver’s perspective, this World Cup has served as an opportunity to expand Chizich’s user base. Chizich recorded a peak of 4,825,000 concurrent viewers during South Korea’s first group stage match against the Czech Republic, followed by 4,780,000 viewers for the match against Mexico. It is widely believed that Chizichik, which had previously focused on game streaming, is broadening its reach to include general sports viewers thanks to the World Cup.

Naver has been preparing for the massive traffic by significantly expanding its CDN (Content Delivery Network) capacity beyond normal levels and implementing real-time traffic management technologies. Using low-latency mode technology, the platform minimized the delay between streamers and viewers, while also analyzing factors such as buffering and video quality in real time to optimize operations.

However, this situation has also highlighted concerns about the “winner’s curse” in the sports broadcasting rights market. While major events like the World Cup, which attract nationwide attention, can be expected to bring a large influx of users and significant advertising revenue in the short term, the burden of broadcasting rights fees is also enormous. The structure is such that even if the operator that secures the rights succeeds in attracting a large audience, it must simultaneously shoulder the burden of recouping costs and managing contractual risks.

In particular, there are concerns that as the broadcast rights trading structure expands to include resale from “broadcasters to platforms,” these risks could spread in a chain reaction. An IT industry official stated, “While it is clear that Naver has expanded the reach of Chizich through the World Cup, if the contractual risks faced by the original rights holder become a real variable, the platform will inevitably be affected in terms of service operation and user support,” adding, “This is a case that demonstrates how securing IP for major sporting events is both an opportunity and a massive burden for platform companies.”

The government is also closely monitoring the situation. Although the Korea Communications Commission (KCC) has not yet launched an official investigation, it has formed a task force to continuously monitor the situation due to concerns that the public’s right to view the broadcast may be infringed upon.

An official from the KCC said, “Since the World Cup broadcasting rights negotiations are fundamentally a private contract between FIFA and JTBC, we are cautious about direct intervention by the agency to determine whether a settlement has been reached,” but added, “As this is a major sporting event of great public interest, we are closely monitoring the situation to ensure that the public’s universal right to view is not infringed upon.”

Earlier, on the 18th, KCC Chairman Kim Jong-cheol also stated at a plenary meeting, “The public’s universal right to view must not be infringed upon due to a company’s financial crisis,” adding, “We will conduct thorough monitoring through the Secretariat’s inspection team, maintain close communication with JTBC, and request their cooperation in submitting relevant materials.”