World Cup 2018 is not far off, and social media networks are preparing to offer millions to obtain streaming rights from Fox Sports. The soccer tournament is to be held in Russia next year, and Facebook, Twitter and Snap Inc are all eager to be able to show highlights online.

As Fox Sports is the exclusive US rights holder, there is potential for bids for access to highlights to become high. A report from Bloomberg suggests that the social media giants have already put up "tens of millions of dollars."

Bloomberg cites anonymous sources as saying bids have been made by the three social media giants, and private talks are underway. There's big money to be made, and not just by Fox Sports. If successful with their bids, Facebook, Twitter and Snapchat will all be able to pull in large amounts of ad revenue via the sporting extravaganza.

But while Fox Sports has the rights to show matches in full, the trio of social media companies are only interested in highlights. As Bloomberg points out:

Highlights may be in higher demand for the 2018 World Cup because many broadcasted games will be shown at odd times thanks to the Russian time difference. Short sports clips, like highlights, lend themselves well to social media, but they could be sought out even more during the next World Cup by soccer fans who can't watch games at 2am.

Image credit: alexeyart / Shutterstock