Will BHRT broadcast the World Championship? The public service hopes for an agreement, here's who will be doing the broadcasts in the region.

The official owner of the TV rights for the 2026 World Cup in Bosnia and Herzegovina is now Arena Sport. This media company has acquired the rights for almost the entire region of the former Yugoslavia, with the exception of Croatia. In practice, this means that World Cup matches will primarily be broadcast on pay-TV channels, which could be a challenging circumstance for a certain number of citizens.

Although there is a strong desire at the Public Broadcaster to ensure citizens can follow the biggest football spectacle, the financial situation at BHRT is far from ideal. Currently, the biggest unknown is whether there is even a possibility of partial distribution of TV rights, given that Arena Sport has already secured exclusivity.

The acting director general of BHRT, Belmin Karamehmedović, confirmed this state of the TV rights market in a statement for Klix.ba but emphasized that the Public Broadcaster will not give up without a fight.

"The official owner of the TV rights for BiH is Arena Sport. They have bought the rights for the entire region except for Croatia. In some countries (Montenegro, Serbia, and Kosovo), part of the rights will be used by public broadcasters. We will do everything in our power to try to secure at least part of the rights, if Arena Sport is interested in discussing this topic. We are talking about millions of euros, and there is no marketing that can cover that. We will try to do as much as we can, but I believe we are not the only ones trying to get at least a portion of the rights from Arena Sport for the World Cup. If there is understanding and any way for us to join in, we will, even in this difficult situation we are in, make the maximum effort to ensure the national team is on BHRT," stated the BHRT management clearly.

It has also been confirmed that BHRT already has secured rights for broadcasts of the Nations League, European Championship qualifiers, and the European Championship, which will be held in 2028 in England, Scotland, Wales, the Republic of Ireland, and Northern Ireland.

Examples from neighboring countries show that an agreement with the owners of exclusive rights is possible, and some public broadcasters have managed to secure broadcasts for their citizens.

Who will broadcast the 2026 World Cup in the countries of the former Yugoslavia?

Croatia: The exclusive rights holder is HRT. Serbia: Rights will be shared between the public broadcaster RTS and Arena Sport. Montenegro: Matches can be watched on RTCG and Arena Sport. Kosovo: Rights are divided between RTK, Arena Sport, and TV Vala. Slovenia and North Macedonia: The main rights holder is exclusively Arena Sport.

For now, Bosnian fans can only hope that the BHRT management will succeed in finding common ground and a financial model with Arena Sport, so that the historic appearances of Bosnia and Herzegovina are available on the channels of the state television.