Alex Kay-Jelski Backs Itv Sport World Cup Base in Salford
itv sport is not moving its main World Cup studio to Dallas. director of sport Alex Kay-Jelski said the broadcaster will base its central 2026 World Cup operation at Media City Studios in Salford, a choice he called sensible because it avoids an unnecessary spend.
He said the plan should save millions in costs and cut carbon emissions by 19% compared with the last World Cup in Qatar. The ’s coverage is set to stretch across 16 host cities in 2026, and that wider footprint is driving the decision to keep the hub in the UK rather than sending everyone abroad.
Media City Studios in Salford
The will work from the HQ3 studio at Media City Studios, a 4,700 sq ft space built around a 5m by 3m LED screen. The backdrop will show the host cities linked to each match, along with the local time of day and weather on screen. An LED floor screen will be used for analysis, with the same style already used in the broadcaster’s Berlin studio at Euro 2024.
Three main broadcast cameras and a jib camera will cover the presentations. Roughly 200 people will work on the coverage from Media City Studios and the Sport offices next door, with the focus on multi-platform output rather than duplicated work for one broadcast only.
Gabby Logan And Micah Richards
Gabby Logan will present alongside Micah Richards, Wayne Rooney and Olivier Giroud for the first game on Friday 12 June, when Canada meet Bosnia-Herzegovina. Logan, Richards and Rooney will also be on hand for the final on 19 July, while the fourth pundit will depend on who reaches the showpiece fixture.
Alan Shearer and Danny Murphy are among the pundits based in the US, where the vast majority of commentary will be done onsite in the Americas. Kay-Jelski said there had been no problems getting talent back to the UK, including Richards, who is also involved in Goalhanger’s The Rest Is Football show for Netflix.
Digital Plans
Kay-Jelski said the has to meet audiences where they are, and that live streams of the first 10 minutes of fixtures are part of that approach. Pundits in the studio will also be able to create material for YouTube and TikTok from the same campus, while edits completed in the VT gallery for broadcast will also feed other outlets.
The setup is also being used as a template for future work. Elements of it will carry over into a new Match Of The Day studio next season, and the says HDR delivery for every World Cup game will be a first for the broadcaster, with the format then used in future football and wider sport coverage.
For viewers, the ’s World Cup operation will now be built around one main base in Salford, with the bulk of the live commentary still coming from the Americas and the studio output designed to travel across broadcast and digital platforms at the same time.
