The world's most popular sporting event — the World Cup — can now be viewed by the world's largest military. Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. struck a deal on June 14 that would allow the American Forces Network, the U.S. military television service, to carry the remaining United States team games in the World Cup. The AFN was not going to broadcast the World Cup football matches because the U.S. military did not budget for the fee to televise the games. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The World Cup can be viewed by most military personnel on free channels in the countries they are stationed in. The main beneficiaries of the deal are the U.S. armed forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, where the World Cup telecast will not be carried for free by local television stations in those countries because of cost, and/or technological issues related to the military conflict in that region. More than one billion people around the world are expected to watch the World Cup games, which began June 9 and end with the championship game on July 9. — Gerald Magpily
See New York Times article
Continue reading below
