The 2026 men’s World Cup will feature breaks during each half for the first time in tournament history, effectively dividing the game into quarters.

FIFA announced Monday that every World Cup game will include “hydration breaks” in each half for three minutes. The breaks, which will occur at around the 22-minute mark of each half, are aimed at prioritizing “player welfare” due to expected high temperatures in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico next summer.

Soccer is known for its continuous running time, with halftime as its only break, but hydration breaks are not completely new. FIFA has implemented cooling breaks before, but only under extreme weather conditions, including at the most recent men’s Club World Cup in the United States last summer. (FIFA lowered its threshold for mandatory cooling breaks from a wet-bulb temperature of 89 degrees Fahrenheit to 82 during the Club World Cup last year after player complaints.)

For the 2026 World Cup, the hydration breaks will be implemented at the same point every match, regardless of the weather conditions, and regardless of whether the matches are being played indoors in a dome. Coaches and players will also be given the opportunity to meet and have tactical discussions during this period.

The uniform break in action theoretically creates another ad placement opportunity for Fox, the tournament rights holder. A three-minute slot closely aligns with the standard quarter break of professional leagues. For example, the break between quarters in the NBA is 2 minutes and 30 seconds.

FIFA said coaches and broadcasters were part of the meetings over the weekend, following the World Cup draw, that discussed the change. 

Fox declined to comment when asked by Front Office Sports whether it will air commercials during these game breaks.

Given the lull in action, it would be a surprise if Fox decided against an opportunity to drive millions of additional revenue by including commercials. 

In 2022, Fox charged about $300,000 for a 30-second commercial spot during most match telecasts, though that was up to $600,000 for the U.S.-England group-stage match. Those figures should only increase with the 2026 World Cup held in North America, giving U.S. viewers accessible time slots for every match.

The World Cup kicks off in Mexico City on June 11. With the new 48-team format, Fox and its networks will air 104 matches from the group stage from June 11 to June 27 before a 32-team knockout phase.

Another traditional National Football League power is having heightened troubles, showing further the new-look nature of the league this season.

The defending Super Bowl champion Eagles dropped their third-straight game, falling 22–19 in overtime to the Chargers on ESPN’s Monday Night Football. The three-game slide is Philadelphia’s first since late in the 2023 season, and follows the decline of the Chiefs, their Super Bowl LIX opponent in February, into mediocrity. 

“FML,” tweeted former Eagles center and ESPN Monday Night Countdown personality Jason Kelce, normally a more ebullient character, after the game—abbreviating “fuck my life.”

Highlighting the Eagles’ loss to the Chargers was a wild second-quarter sequence in which quarterback Jalen Hurts, the Most Valuable Player of Super Bowl LIX, threw an interception, recovered a fumble, and then lost the ball again in another fumble—all on the same play. According to Elias Sports Bureau research, Hurts is the first NFL player to commit two turnovers on the same play in its research dating to 1978. 

That play also had significant fantasy football implications in a week-ending contest, and it was worth a negative four points in most leagues.

“Given Hurts was drafted as a top-four quarterback, that this was the final game before playoffs where many berths were decided, that Hurts ended with under one point overall, I argue this -4 point play is the most damaging fantasy football play of the year,” tweeted fantasy football expert and NBC Sports personality Matthew Berry. 

The Eagles still have a far better likelihood of reaching the playoffs than the Chiefs do. Philadelphia has a 1.5-game cushion in the NFC East division over the Cowboys and a 93% chance of reaching the postseason, compared to Kansas City’s 11%. 

The viewership implications of Philadelphia missing the postseason would also likely be somewhat less dramatic than those of the Chiefs. Kansas City has been in five of the ten most-watched NFL games through Week 13 this season, including four of the top five, while the Eagles have been in three of the top 10.

The struggles of teams such as the Chiefs and Eagles have been countered by unexpected rises by other upstarts such as the Patriots and Bears. 

Looking Ahead

The ESPN broadcast of MNF, meanwhile, featured a public callout of what will be one of the biggest moments in the network’s history since its 1979 debut: its broadcast of Super Bowl LXI on Feb. 14, 2027, from SoFi Stadium in California.

The game will be the first Super Bowl in ESPN’s history, and it was part of a set of rights deals struck with the NFL back in 2021. ESPN installed a countdown clock to Super Bowl LXI at its Bristol, Conn., headquarters, and the game has long been positioned as a major priority for not only the network but also its corporate parent, Disney. 

MNF announcers Joe Buck and Troy Aikman, however, gave the upcoming game an additional on-air boost.

“Will you be my date on Valentine’s Day?” Aikman joked to Buck.

“It’s looking that way, yes. … Have you seen the script? Do you know who’s going to play in that one yet? I saw it,” Buck responded. 

That Super Bowl will also be shown on ABC and supplemented with a series of alternate feeds and ancillary programming.

The National Hockey League’s worries about the rink at the 2026 Winter Olympics aren’t totally on ice, but there’s rising optimism the high-stakes construction race in Italy will ultimately succeed.

During NHL Board of Governors meetings happening this week in Colorado, league deputy commissioner Bill Daly said he remains “cautiously optimistic” that the delayed construction of Santagiulia Arena, near Milan, will be completed in time for the Olympics in February.

Additionally, the league is sending some of its personnel to the construction site to aid in the final stages of the facility development, as there is no margin for error or further delay.

“We’re basically moving everybody there to try to help get this done in a way that’s acceptable for NHL athletes,” Daly said. “I’m cautiously optimistic that’s all going to be fruitful.

“They’re moving towards their goal. There doesn’t seem to be anything insurmountable in getting to completion,” he said.

Long-Held Concerns

Despite that hope, the situation around the arena construction, and the development of an Olympic-quality ice within it, has been a continual source of stress around the sport. In October at a prior NHL BOG meeting, commissioner Gary Bettman said the league has “had a concern for the last two years on the progress of the rink.” Then it was revealed that the ice dimensions would be slightly shorter and wider than NHL standards. 

Daly said he wasn’t as concerned about the rink dimensions in Italy, particularly since some former NHL arenas had slightly different lengths and widths. Rather, ensuring top quality for the Olympic ice itself is a key focus.

“If the players feel the ice is unsafe, we’re not going to play,” Daly said. “It’s as simple as that.”

A statement released Monday by the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympics organizing committee read in part, “All involved, the IIHF, the organizing committee, NHL, NHLPA, IOC, and the relevant venue authorities agree the differences in rink specifications are insignificant. We look forward to welcoming the world’s best players for a best-on-best competition at the Games.”

Construction is set to finish at Santagiulia Arena by Feb. 2, with testing to happen immediately after that. The first event at the facility is set to be the start of the Olympic women’s tournament on Feb. 5. The men’s tournament will begin Feb. 11. 

Daly, meanwhile, made it clear that such issues will not be permitted for the 2030 Olympics in the French Alps.

“I think both we and the players’ association have made the IIHF very aware that when we participate in the Olympics in 2030, we expect it to be an NHL ice surface,” he said.