ITV has confirmed it will not air ads during the hydration breaks in Fifa World Cup matches.
In March, FIFA announced that broadcasters would be permitted to show adverts during the mandatory water breaks that were being introduced for matches played in high temperatures. The 2026 tournament, hosted across North America, is expected to feature extreme summer conditions in several venues.
The three-minute breaks — scheduled once in each half — effectively divide matches into four quarters, creating valuable commercial inventory for broadcasters. Adverts for Fifa partners can be shown 20 seconds after the referee pauses play and must return to the match feed more than 30 seconds before play resumes, with broadcasters able to either cut away from the on-field action, or layer ads on top of the coverage, using a picture-in-picture approach.
ITV has already experimented with in-play advertising opportunities this year. During the Six Nations Championship, the broadcaster introduced picture-in-picture adverts that appeared during scrums. The move was met with a negative reaction from some rugby fans, but it had been widely expected that a similar approach could be used during the World Cup.
However, ITV has now confirmed to MediaCat it will not use the hydration breaks for advertising during its tournament coverage. The broadcaster said it launched advertising packages for the World Cup as early as November and said it would be incorrect to suggest it had planned to introduce such ads. According to The Times, which first reported the story, the decision may be linked to Ofcom rules that limit the total amount of advertising that can be broadcast. Showing split-screen adverts during hydration breaks could require ITV to reduce the length of traditional ad breaks — a trade-off the broadcaster may have decided was not worthwhile.