German public broadcasters ARD and ZDF are set to integrate advertising into the newly designated «cooling breaks» during the upcoming FIFA World Cup in the USA, Mexico, and Canada. These three-minute pauses, scheduled in all 104 matches after 22 and 67 minutes of each half, will serve a dual purpose: providing players with a moment to rehydrate and offering the broadcasters a lucrative new advertising opportunity.
Both public channels are actively leveraging these breaks to sell specialized advertising formats. ZDF, for instance, is promoting «exclusive blocks for maximum presence,» which include full-screen spots lasting approximately 90 seconds. For matches not involving the German national team, advertising slots are priced starting from 1,200 Euros per second. These commercials will be framed by special bumpers and feature ZDF’s football-themed «Mainzelmännchen» characters. ARD, on its part, is offering a distinct «Cooling Break Package» to advertisers.
Each cooling break is permitted to contain a maximum of 80 seconds of advertising. The broadcast of these commercials can commence no earlier than 20 seconds after the referee’s whistle and must conclude 30 seconds before the game resumes. A significant challenge for ARD and ZDF stems from the German Interstate Broadcasting Treaty (Rundfunkstaatsvertrag), which prohibits them from airing advertisements after 8:00 PM Central European Time. This regulation poses a hurdle, as many World Cup matches will be played after this time in Central Europe due to time differences with the host nations.
ARD and ZDF will collectively broadcast 60 of the 104 World Cup matches on free-to-air television. This extensive coverage is made possible through a sub-license agreement with Deutsche Telekom, whose streaming service, Magenta TV, holds the exclusive rights to broadcast all 104 matches live.