SBJ Unpacks: The ‘brain’ powering World Cup broadcasts

Tonight in Unpacks: The International Broadcast Center is a 500,000 square-foot hub that processes and produces feeds and data streams from 16 venues, along with handling VAR reviews, writes SBJ’s Irving Mejia-Hilario following an inside look at one of FIFA’s most crucial facilities for the World Cup.

Also tonight:

• Versant acquiring Full Swing for $530 million
• FIFA’s connected ball negates Croatia’s tying goal as NBA plans more tests of similar tech
• Anime catches World Cup fever
• Op-ed: TKO’s next frontier — South America, India and Africa

Listen to SBJ’s most popular podcast, Morning Buzzcast, where Reggie Walker opens the week with storylines for Monday night’s USMNT-Belguim match at the World Cup, Boston among the cities seeing economic benefits from the World Cup, reaction to the Celtics’ Jaylen Brown trade and more.

DALLAS -- One of the most important venues of the 2026 FIFA World Cup will never host a single fan.

Buried inside a construction zone in downtown Dallas, the International Broadcast Center is the tournament’s unseen control room. The 500,000-square-foot hub is where every match feed, Video Assistant Referee (VAR) review and stream of performance data is produced before they’re pushed out to the world. With the knockout stages underway, the building is still running close to capacity, even if almost no one outside the industry will ever see it.

But the IBC is more than a giant television control room. It reflects FIFA’s shift toward remote production, with replay, camera shading and other technical operations centralized in Dallas instead of duplicated at all 16 venues.

“The International Broadcast Center is the brain of the full FIFA World Cup 2026 host broadcast operation,” said Oscar Sanchez, FIFA’s head of host broadcast production and senior IBC manager. “Every camera that is capturing the game at the 16 venues is sent via different paths to here, and here it is distributed to the world.

“Every minute of the FIFA World Cup that the billions around the world are watching pass through here.”

Roughly 3,400 people work from the IBC each day, including rights holders, FIFA and Host Broadcast Services (HBS) staff, as well as the workers responsible for food service, security and keeping the facility powered.

The match schedule sets the rhythm. Teams start filtering in three to four hours before kickoff, but the building never really shuts down. Host-broadcast activity winds down “three hours after the last match of the day,” Sanchez said, yet the master control room runs 24/7 to serve broadcasters in Asia and Australia who rely on Dallas nighttime as their daytime. That keeps catering, cleaning, security, logistics and power teams on around-the-clock footing as well.

Feeds from 16 venues across three countries and four time zones are funneled into the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center and delivered to more than 200 media partners worldwide. Directors and camera operators remain at the stadiums, but FIFA has centralized much of the remaining work to North Texas.

“The actual production still lives at the stadium because the director and the camera operators are there, but the replay operation happens here, as well as the camera shading,” Sanchez said. “If we need to put up a percentage, 60 to 65% is done still at the venue, and 35% is done here, but then combined to leave to the media partners from here.”

Centralizing that work has changed how FIFA staffs the tournament.

“From the operational perspective, even environmentally, it’s convenient to have a hub like the IBC here in Dallas. Otherwise, we would need to have 16 teams and people traveling around and dealing with all the logistics of that. … The importance has been increasing.”

Complicated puzzle

Landing the IBC had been a multiyear project for Dallas. The bid process started in 2017 and took hundreds of meetings to put together, said Dallas Sports Commission Exec Dir Monica Paul.

What sounded simple on paper turned into a complicated infrastructure and governance puzzle. The city owns the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center, Oak View Group manages it, and Inspire Dallas is overseeing construction of a new convention center on the same footprint. At the same time, TxDOT is rebuilding key I‑30 exits into downtown, and Dallas Area Rapid Transit has adjusted rail service at the convention center stop.

In December 2024, Dallas City Council approved a $15M package to fund upgrades to the convention center so Dallas could host the IBC. Events from the World Cup, including the IBC and FIFA Fan Festival, are expected to generate $2B in economic revenue for the region, according to FIFA, and that upside had to be weighed against the risk of building a temporary, highly technical broadcast campus in the middle of an active construction zone.

For FIFA and HBS, the physical build was essentially an 18‑month project. Design, contracting and construction for the internal footprint took about a year and a half. Broadcasters such as Fox and Telemundo began sending detailed space and technical requirements last summer, which in turn drove architectural drawings, permitting with the city and a January 14 move‑in date.

The building itself functions like a sealed campus. Dallas Fire‑Rescue has a dedicated medical team on site. In addition to host broadcasters and FIFA staff, the daily headcount includes logistics crews, cleaning and maintenance teams, power and connectivity vendors, and a steady flow of delegation visits from future event bidders and city officials.

On the technical side, the IBC is split into a series of specialized zones. One cluster of six video assistant referee rooms is tied in real time to all 16 venues. Each room is dedicated to a single match, staffed by a three‑person video match official team and replay operators, with FIFA staffers behind them to supervise and communicate with broadcasters.

“I have a tablet, and I’m communicating to the TV and broadcasters what the VAR is checking,” one official said. “I’m there to interpret it and make sure the clearest message goes to TV. It helps bring everyone on board of what’s happening.”

Next door, a data center links Dallas to a parallel operation in Manchester, England, where more than 150 staffers process tracking and event data in real time. That backbone powers a suite of products, from match stats on FIFA’s digital platforms to a players app and a new Football AI Pro tool built with Lenovo. Teams and analysts can query an internal large language model about highly specific tactical questions -- pressing on a particular opponent, spacing between lines, or how often they broke down a low defensive block -- and receive answers, visualizations and clips.

Though the IBC is not open to the public, delegations cycle through it daily, including future event bidders, city officials and small industry groups getting escorted walk-throughs of the VAR operations, data teams and broadcast compounds.

For the IBC staff, the work rarely looks the same two days in a row. Operations teams begin with communications checks to that day’s host cities, testing radio links between stadiums and the VAR rooms, confirming referee headsets and running through quality-control lists before the first kick. On heavy days, they rotate through shifts that might include sitting in a VAR room, moving into an operations bay to monitor the health of dozens of feeds, then troubleshooting weather delays that threaten to stack matches on top of one another.

“The focus really is to just make sure everybody has the information they need to deliver the World Cup to the globe,” Sanchez said.

Versant Media Group has agreed to acquire golf simulator business Full Swing from majority investor Bruin Capital for around $530M in an all-cash deal. The transaction is expected to close before the end of the year.

Bruin acquired Full Swing from North Castle Partners in 2021 at a reported $160M valuation. Full Swing is the officially licensed simulator of the PGA Tour, and it recently renewed as a technology provider for TMRW Sports’ TGL.

Full Swing will be integrated into Versant’s golf business, which also includes the Golf Channel, tee time booking platform GolfNow and membership program GolfPass. In announcing the deal, Versant said the acquisition will also “create opportunities to develop a unique ecosystem across content, commerce, training, venues, and performance data.”

Full Swing CEO Ryan Dotters will report to Will McIntosh, Versant’s president of digital platforms and ventures. McIntosh previously oversaw strategy for Golf Channel and GolfNow.

Gibson Dunn provided legal advisory services to Versant. Bruin was advised by investment bank Moelis and law firm Kirkland & Ellis.

In a statement, Versant CEO Mark Lazarus said his company -- which split off from Comcast as a separate public company in January -- aims to build off its “strength in golf” to “scale a multi-sports technology platform for athletes, coaches, consumers and fans.” Full Swing expanded into baseball in December with the launch of its portable swing-tracking KIT Launch Monitor product.

Last year, Bruin CEO George Pyne told Sports Business Journal that his firm had grown Full Swing’s software income and made replacement parts a source of recurring revenue. “And there will be an opportunity someday, I think, where you’re going to be able to bet,” he added.

The transaction continues a string of successful exits for Bruin, which launched in 2015 as the first private equity firm to focus exclusively on sports and recently raised $1B from Josh Harris’ 26North, TJC and others. It previously sold stakes in hospitality firm On Location, broadcast tech provider Deltatre and marketing agency Two Circles. The private equity firm still has investments across athlete representation, betting data, original content, turf management and other sectors of the sports industry.

Croatia’s apparent equalizer against Portugal in the 13th minute of second-half stoppage time Thursday was overturned by VAR technology in the most visible -- and most scrutinized -- example yet of FIFA’s connected ball technology.

Since the 2022 World Cup, the Adidas game ball has contained a Kinexon sensor operating at 500 hertz, meaning it refreshes 500 times per second. Originally inserted to determine the precise moment of a pass for considering offsides calls, the IMU device -- and inertial measurement unit, such as an accelerometer -- can detect the slightest touch.

In this case, it determined that the ball nicked the head (or at least the hair) of Croatia’s Igor Matanović on its way to Josko Gvardiol for the apparent goal -- except that touch changed the offsides calculus, and the goal was negated.

This high-profile example of connected ball tech occurred mere hours after the NBA announced that it would be conducting further testing of similar technology during Summer League play this month. That builds on an initial pilot conducted last year as part of the NBA Launchpad startups program with SportIQ’s one-gram sensor placed inside the Wilson game ball’s air valve. It collects the ball’s movement data 400 times per second, with the league envisioning the technology helping automate objective officiating calls, such as who was the last player to touch the ball before it went out of bounds.

Automated officiating is proliferating throughout sports, with advanced sensor and camera technologies already calling tennis lines, baseball strikes and football first downs. The goal is improved accuracy and expedited decision times. Both soccer and basketball have seen pace of play bogged down by lengthy replay reviews.

FIFA’s sensored ball was introduced as part of its semi-automated offsides technology and works in concert with Hawk-Eye tracking cameras to triangulate the positioning of every player and the timing of the pass. The system was enhanced over the past four years to the point now where it is almost fully automated, although a VAR official does remain in the loop for the calls with the slimmest margins (generally within 10 centimeters, or about four inches). The ball data also works in the opposite direction, helping award a goal to Sweden that had initially been struck down.

The byproduct of the technology’s ultra-sensitivity is the possibility for unintended, or at least unexpected, consequences such as the overturned Croatian goal. The human eye at live speed couldn’t see Matanović’s touch, and even slow-motion replay wasn’t fully conclusive. The contact lasted a few milliseconds, and only the sensor was capable of detecting it.

The circumstances in every sport are different. What may be worthwhile to adjudicate in soccer may not be true in another game. Baseball, for example, has contended with close tag plays at bases in which high-definition, slow-mo replays will show fleeting instances in which a sliding player might lose contact with the base and be called out. It doesn’t seem to be in the spirit of the rule, but the objective information appears undeniable.

The presentation of reviews is a critical piece to ensure players and fans accept a ruling. The animations used in tennis, MLB’s ABS and the NFL’s virtual first down calls all do this well. The so-called “heartbeat graphic” from FIFA does too, although some critics asked for more context -- perhaps including a few prior touches on the timeline to be further convincing of the sequence and magnitude of each touch. Regardless, the most consequential moment was shown by broadcasters and subsequently shared by FIFA’s media department on social media, too.

“There is no subjective opinion -- the chip of the ball shows,” Portugal coach Roberto Martinez told reporters. “There was no bad decision, no unlucky call. Today was clear, and the technology helped.”

At the end of the day, even the player involved in the disputed play (essentially) confirmed that it was the right call, meaning the technology worked as intended.

“Honestly, I think I felt a slight contact with my hair,” Matanović told reporters. “I asked the referee, I wasn’t 100 percent sure if I had touched the ball. He told me that they have a chip in the ball, that there was a slight contact and that, therefore, it was offside.”

The lingering question for the future will only be for the sport to decide what is the right intention.

Anime isn’t just about mechs, ninjas and horse girls. Sports has been a thriving niche in the Japanese animation for decades, some original works and others adaptations of manga (that’s a form of comic/graphic novel in Japan).

Crunchyroll is an anime subscription service in the U.S., eclipsing the 21-million subscriber threshold earlier this year. It carries three soccer-themed shows: “Captain Tsubasa,” which debuted back in 1983 (yet is still younger than me); “Aoashi,” which debuted in 2022; and “Blue Lock,” which also debuted in 2022 (it’s on Netflix, too). Both “Captain Tsubasa” and “Blue Lock” have video games, as does “Inazuma Eleven.”

“Blue Lock” is a bit different than the standard Japanese sports anime. While most focus on characters working together, Blue Lock features a fierce competition (think “Squid Games” but for soccer) to mold one player into the best striker to ever play so they can lead Japan’s World Cup team.

Crunchyroll is using “Blue Lock” as the hook of its World Cup strategy, with a promo spot running during 130 games in France and Germany. It’s also holding events in Paris, Munich and Times Square (where the ad is airing on one of its outdoor screens). It’s targeting France because of the culture’s long appreciation for animation, and both nations have pro players who have shared their love of anime online and populations who watch it.

“Both France and Germany have passionate and growing anime communities, so the opportunity to air Crunchyroll spots during a tentpole moment in pop culture like the World Cup allows us to introduce existing sports fans to the vibrant world of anime,” said Kartik Gandhi, Crunchyroll’s SVP/growth and planning. Other areas of growth: Latin America, especially Brazil and Mexico.

He also notes that with anime fans, older series remain popular as younger audiences discover them or older ones watch them again.

Crunchyroll is also engaging athletes. In April, it worked with Manchester United’s Lisandro Martinez, an Argentine star and “anime superfan” on a selection of apparel items.

World Cup aside, anime is seeing a moment in U.S. sports. More Japanese brands are advertising in MLB thanks to the influx of stars such as Shohei Ohtani and Munetaka Murakami. And Cygames is using the Kentucky Derby and other horse racing events to promote “Umamusume: Pretty Derby,” a mobile game based on the anime of the same name (which is, of course, on Crunchyroll).

The most valuable customers for TKO Group Holdings are not ticket buyers; they are governments. The kingdom of Saudi Arabia is the clearest proof of concept for TKO’s governmental partnerships. During the Q4 2024 earnings call, TKO CFO Andrew Schleimer insinuated that one fewer Saudi Arabia Premium Live Event (PLE) would affect revenue by about $55 million, underscoring the commercial significance of the relationship. Three events planned for 2026 in Saudi Arabia are expected to generate approximately $165 million in guaranteed revenue from a single government partner. That is not just a business model; it is a blueprint. In June, WWE returned to Kingdom Arena in Riyadh for Night of Champions, proceeding as planned despite ongoing regional tensions following Iranian strikes in the area.

The opportunity that follows is straightforward: What happens when TKO applies the same blueprint elsewhere? Formula 1 canceled its Saudi races. LIV Golf is approaching bankruptcy without its Public Investment Fund backer. The question is where the next sovereign partner comes from. Temple University economist and Professor Michael Leeds, who has studied the economics of major sports events, framed the strategic logic plainly: “I think it is always wise to diversify, even if the Middle East has been a major potential source of income. Current events clearly indicate that it is coming with considerable risk.”

The markets where that expansion logic points are not theoretical. South America, where TKO has confirmed a September 2026 tour after a seven-year absence. India, where a content market of hundreds of millions is showing early signs of becoming a live-event frontier. Africa, where on April 19, Lagos-born Oba Femi defeated one of the most commercially valuable performers in the history of combat sports entertainment: Brock Lesnar. Femi’s defeat of Lesnar is not just great booking; it’s also a market signal. Gunther, the Austrian-born, ex-world heavyweight champion who headlined Bash in Berlin in 2024, helped WWE enter a market that had never hosted a premium live event before. Oba Femi is that same asset, but for Africa.

The income objection will be the first challenge any reader raises. Brandon Thurston, founder of Wrestlenomics and a journalist who delivers data-driven analysis of pro wrestling’s business metrics, identified income disparity as the primary structural consideration in emerging markets: “On the surface, I would expect challenges due to economic differences, reflected in the disparity in median household income in countries like India and Nigeria versus in the UK.” That caution is legitimate. It is also, Professor Leeds argues, aimed at a different variable. “The largest benefit from mega-events comes from media rights, especially rights to broadcast to wealthy nations,” Leeds explained, adding that the second key economic driver is not local audience spending, but rather revenue generated by visitors who travel from other cities or countries who attend the event.

Under TKO’s global Netflix deal, every international Premium Live Event generates broadcast value in international markets, regardless of where it is staged. The commercial case for any given market depends not only on local event revenue, but also on where Netflix sees room for subscriber growth and how many fans travel in from outside to attend. That mechanism has already been proven. The Welsh government invested approximately £2.18 million to host WWE’s Clash at the Castle in Cardiff in 2022, and an independently commissioned study by the Welsh government documented a return of £21.8 million, a 10-to1 ratio driven overwhelmingly by international visitors. The Western Australian government confirmed that UFC 284 injected a $42.8 million boost to the state’s economy, while WWE Elimination Chamber: Perth generated $36.2 million, with out-of-state guests accounting for more than $35 million of that figure. Governments pay, outsiders travel, and the broadcast reach does the rest.

South America is already in motion. WWE’s acquisition of AAA in April 2025 gave TKO an institutional foothold in the region’s largest wrestling culture, and former Women’s World Champion Stephanie Vaquer, a Chilean-born talent on the September tour roster, is the cultural anchor that makes a sovereign conversation viable in Santiago. India also fits, though its timeline is longer. Sheetesh Srivastava, former WWE general manager for South Asia and current managing director at Isos Capital for India, draws the distinction precisely: “India’s WWE market is driven by strong content consumption economics. While a sovereign infrastructure model has not yet fully materialized, there is clear momentum in that direction.” Africa fits now. Morocco is committing to a multibillion-dollar investment in tourism and stadium facilities linked to co-hosting the 2030 FIFA World Cup. Nigeria provides the cultural anchor: a native performer who just stood at the center of the world’s largest sports-entertainment stage, a parallel to what Cardiff did with McIntyre and Perth with Ripley, now extended to Africa.

TKO Group Holdings is not a live event company. It is the apex of global sports entertainment, the parent of UFC, WWE, and PBR, the holder of more than $15 billion in long-term media rights agreements, and the destination that governments around the world compete to host. Cardiff paid to be associated with it. Perth paid. Riyadh pays $55 million per event, and did so again this June, because the “model works’”.

The Saudi blueprint succeeded because TKO identified a government with the appetite, the infrastructure, and the budget to make a sovereign partnership work. The Cardiff 10:1 ROI, the Perth economic impact, and a confirmed South America tour have already proven the model scales. South America, India, and Africa are not the next experiment; they are the next iteration.

Alejandro Estrada Rojas is a sports management student at NYU’s Tisch Institute for Global Sport, exploring the intersection of sports, media, and technology.

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