We met them as cooling breaks, but they have now been renamed hydration breaks (watering breaks) and are already one of the... hot discussion topics in the ongoing 2026 World Cup.
From the first moment this particular FIFA initiative was accepted with... skepticism and with the completion of a week of struggle we have the first strong reactions, but also the official confirmations of their (economic) importance.
Both in Dallas (England - Croatia), and in Toronto (Ghana - Panama) there were strong reactions from viewers about the fact that while there was no such intense heat there was a break in the race. And it is typical that in Toronto at the time of the break, it rained constantly!
Of course, with FIFA receiving strong criticism of much more serious things, Gianni Infantino's ear and his associates are not particularly sweaty.
Clearly, hydration breaks were a demand for television stations that paid a lot of money for rights and through these vacations are expected to add revenue of 500 million out of nowhere!
You see, in football, there's no time-out and these vacations play this role by offering a new advertising time, which is sold at twice the price and already market experts’ estimates indicate that the expected revenues of EUR 300 million For television stations they are very likely to double!