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Fox adopts hybrid ads during World Cup's hydration breaks after a viewer backlash
Los Angeles Times
|June 23, 2026
Fox has adopted a new split-screen approach to ads during the World Cup’s mandatory hydration breaks, after a stir among viewers over how it had been handling the pauses.
RONALDO BOLAÑOS Los Angeles Times AN OVERHEAD screen alerts fans to a mandatory break at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood on June 12.
At the start of the tournament, the network aired full-screen ads during the three-minute breaks, cutting away from the field during the opening match between Mexico and South Africa. Soccer fans complained that they were missing on-field action, and the backlash mounted.
By the Mexico-South Korea match last week, Fox had changed course, running split-screen advertisements for the first time: two side-by-side panels, one keeping the camera on the stadium while the other played a commercial. The approach hasn’t been consistent, though. For Friday’s U.S.-Australia match, the network reverted to full-screen ads.
Fox declined to comment on the changes.
This story is from the June 23, 2026 edition of Los Angeles Times.
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