Well, talkSPORT’s summer grid is a bit empty so they wouldn’t mind devoting substantial airtime to the Commonwealth. The preceding World Cup can be used as a launchpad.
5 Live barely covered the previous one anyway, and that was during their sports slots. 5LX was only slightly better.
Also TNT already had a partnership with TS for the Friday night EPL show. It’d just be a handy extension.
Which is airing on BBC radio channels and not TalkSport?
Then they wouldn’t boast this.
With talkSPORT holding exclusive audio rights to the FIFA World Cup, 2026 is destined to be a bumper year for the network online, on the app, on the radio, on connected TV and social media platforms.
Interesting - I thought the BBC had them exclusive, they locked those rights down a while back.
Although exclusive use by TalkSport is an interesting word…
I highly doubt that’s correct.
Maybe exclusive to ROI?
Well, I took a look at the match split announcement articles from the BBC for each WC.
They were very keen on saying they had radio coverage in 2018:
The BBC is proud to be offering such an enticing array of games on football’s biggest stage, as we look to deliver to audiences unprecedented, extensive access to World Cup content across TV, radio, online and social media.
And 2022:
With extensive 24/7 coverage across BBC TV, BBC iPlayer, radio, online and social media, the World Cup promises to be a huge event to wrap up a major sporting year on the BBC.
But 2026:
From (hopefully) England knockout games live on BBC1 and iPlayer to Scotland’s crunch matches with Haiti and Brazil to glamour games featuring Messi, Mbappe, Ronaldo, Yamal, Salah, Haaland, and more, we will bring you the drama and analysis of the moments that matter.
Notice what was omitted.
Not sure about exclusive, but they definitely extended their audio rights along with their TV rights for the next two World Cups last year:
That quote isn’t from TalkSPORT though, so there is zero boasting. Plus, I can’t find anything to suggest they do have exclusive rights. The only place saying so is the article you have linked.
I was going off the media release from the time the rights were Awarded that @TheChewyApple posted.
Main Street Sports Group and DAZN appear to be an ideal partnership on paper; however, sporting organizations currently aligned with Main Street would be justified in feeling uneasy given DAZN’s track record regarding business practices and ethical standards.
They’ll take that money. They took it when Sinclair and Byron Allen owned those channels, and they took it when Fox owned those channels.
Per the SBJ report, Main Street intends to make its rights payments through the end of the NBA/NHL regular seasons, even if no DAZN deal.
Worse Case Scenario Per SBJ:
Pretty good news.
End of an era as Trans World Sports finishes up.
I used to watch this all the time back when it was on One HD. It was basically my introduction to sports not seen on FTA.
Looks like it won’t happen or seems unlikely
Main Street currently controls the rights to 29 franchises between MLB, the NBA, and the NHL. Per the SBJ report, should more than 10 of those 29 teams opt to explore other options instead of accepting DAZN’s amended terms, the DAZN acquisition would fall through entirely. The London-based streaming platform wants to acquire local rights with some level of scale, which would necessitate as many teams as possible to achieve.
Reading between the lines, there seems to simply be too many hurdles to clear for a DAZN deal to come to fruition. That doesn’t mean it couldn’t happen, but the streamer would need to convince a number of NBA teams that may already be predisposed towards axing a deal that it’d actually be in their best interest to sign on, all while paying them rights fees below what their current contracts lay out. In other words, it will be a very uphill battle for any deal to cross the finish line.
Do it! Do it! 
DAZN wants to have the cake and eat it too. Sure the teams are greedy, but DAZN trumps them in terms of greediness - just look at the Kayo price increases.