Powered by the ongoing FIFA World Cup 2026, Zee’s Unite8 Sports channel garnered 60 million new viewers, 

By Vallari Sanzgiri

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Powered by the ongoing FIFA World Cup 2026, Zee’s Unite8 Sports channel garnered 60 million new viewers,  | Photo Credit: Issei Kato

Zee Entertainment Enterprises onboarded six new advertisers for the FIFA World Cup 2026 on Friday.

As the tournament enters its next phase, leading brands including Lenovo, Ceat, Jaguar Land Rover, Adidas, Zydus and JBL partner with the advertiser portfolio. The company claimed healthy demand from additional brands evaluating partnerships for the Round of 32 (June 28– July 3), Round of 16 (July 4-7) and later stages of the tournament. The new names indicate the brand’s confidence in the tournament’s ability to deliver consumer engagement at scale, Zee stated in its press release.

“While several marquee brands came on board ahead of the tournament, the excitement generated through the group stages has prompted a fresh wave of advertiser interest as the competition moves into its most anticipated phase,” said the company in its press release.

Earlier, Zee announced sponsorships from Mahindra as the Co-Presenting Sponsor, Diageo as the Co-Powered by Sponsor, as well as Apple and Pernod Ricard. It also reported a 20 per cent network market share in Week 24 of 2026, owing to its sports portfolio, marking an all-time high performance for Zee since the last eight years. Powered by the ongoing FIFA World Cup 2026, Zee’s Unite8 Sports channel garnered 60 million new viewers, emerging as the second-largest linear sports portfolio in India. Overall, Zee’s sports portfolio achieved a reach of over 300 million across its linear, digital and social platforms since June 1.

“Our focus has been on delivering bespoke, outcome-led solutions that enable brands across categories and investment levels to participate meaningfully in the tournament. The response has been encouraging, with several new brands coming on board and continued interest from advertisers looking to leverage the excitement around the knockout stages,” said Sandeep Mehrotra, Chief Operating Officer – Advertisement Revenue, Zee.

Published on June 26, 2026

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Source: BusinessLine