Why the World Cup games on Peacock are broadcast in Spanish

Why the World Cup games on Peacock are broadcast in Spanish originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The 2026 FIFA World Cup is captivating fans, who are all looking for a way to watch the games.

One source for the action in the United States is the Peacock streaming service, is run by NBC/Universal.

Fans who are tuning in on Peacock, though, have noticed something: The broadcasts there are just in Spanish.

There's no way to watch English-language versions of the World Cup telecasts on Peacock, and there's a simple reason why.

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Why are the World Cup games on Peacock only in Spanish, not English?

This has to do with the rights to broadcast the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the United States.

The English-language broadcast rights are held by Fox, which is showing games both on the Fox network and on FS1 throughout the tourney.

Because the English TV rights belong to Fox, those broadcasts cannot be shown on another network's service, like Peacock.

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NBC/Universal owns Telemundo, which has the Spanish-language broadcast rights in the United States. That means that the stream that can be put on Peacock, which belongs to that company, is the one happening in Spanish.

Some fans have expressed on social media that they're enjoying watching the World Cup on Telemundo, in part because it doesn't go to commercial during the hydration breaks.

If all you have is Peacock, it's not a bad viewing experience at all.

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