Netflix secures US broadcast rights for the 2027 and 2031 Women’s World Cups

Netflix has secured exclusive broadcast rights in the US for the 2027 and 2031 editions of the Women’s World Cup.

The deal marks the first time the Women’s World Cup will be broadcast on a streaming service.

The value of the deal was not disclosed, but FIFA described it as “groundbreaking”.

Netflix, which streamed documentaries about the USWNT and the Spanish national team during the 2023 competition, will also produce a documentary series leading up to both tournaments.

A FIFA press release said the “historic deal” would “provide U.S.-based fans with unprecedented access to every game live and comprehensive coverage, including star-studded studio shows.” It added: “The agreement spans Puerto Rico and covers all languages, with high-profile talent poised to appear in a doubleheader for both English- and Spanish-language broadcasts in the United States.”

“This is a milestone for sports media rights,” said FIFA President Gianni Infantino. “As a top brand and new long-term partner of FIFA, Netflix has demonstrated a very strong commitment to the growth of women’s football. This agreement sends a strong message about the true value of the FIFA Women’s World Cup and global women’s football.”

While Netflix has a long history of producing sports documentaries, the company is a relative newcomer to live sports streaming. The November fight between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul was Netflix’s first live boxing event, alongside the card’s co-main event Katie Taylor vs. Amanda Serrano, becoming the most-watched professional women’s sporting event in U.S. history with 74 million viewers.

“Our record-breaking success with Amanda Serrano vs. Katie Taylor demonstrated the tremendous appetite for women’s sports and live programming,” added Bela Bajaria, Netflix’s chief content officer. “Bringing this iconic tournament to Netflix isn’t just about streaming games – it’s about celebrating the players, culture and passion that are driving the rise of women’s sports around the world.”

However, the Paul Tyson fight often experienced buffering and streaming issues. Netflix also owns the rights to two Christmas Day NFL games, the Kansas City Chiefs at the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Baltimore Ravens at the Houston Texans, marking the streaming service’s first foray into live action of the sport.

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Fox, meanwhile, held broadcast rights to the 2023 Women’s World Cup in the United States as Spain beat England 1-0 in the final to win the competition for the first time.

The 2023 tournament was the first cycle in which broadcasters competed separately for the rights to the Women’s World Cup. Previously, the Women’s World Cup was included as an add-on to broadcasters’ packages when they purchased the rights to the Men’s World Cup.

Immediately before the 2023 tournament, Infantino criticized public bids for the media, calling them “unacceptable.”

The 2027 World Cup will be held in Brazil, while U.S. Soccer and the Mexican Soccer Federation announced in April their intention to jointly bid for the 2031 World Cup. The two associations withdrew their bid for the 2027 tournament and instead focused on 2031.

Debbie Hewitt, chair of the English Football Association, also described the possibility of England hosting the 2031 tournament as a “very attractive offer” in a speech in May 2023.

“A turning point for Netflix and global women’s soccer in the US”

Analysis by Richard Deitsch, senior writer for sports media

There’s hardly a better place to learn about Netflix and its big ambitions than research firm MoffettNathanson, which provides media, communications and technology trends to institutional investors. Michael Nathanson, co-founder and chief executive of the research firm that bears his name, has been evaluating Netflix for many years and has a guiding principle when it comes to the company: Pay attention to what Netflix does, not what the company says.

The company securing exclusive U.S. rights to the Women’s World Cup for the 2027 and 2031 tournaments is a seismic event in sports. It’s the first time the tournament has appeared on a streaming service and is a game-changer when it comes to soccer consumption in the United States. It’s an important signal to the market that Netflix has transitioned from being interested in sports properties to becoming a legitimate sports rights holder. As the company has evolved from a subscription-only company to one that is now in the advertising business, it wants to increase advertising consumption and revenue, and there are few better content games to sell advertising on than sports.

It’s also an inspired choice given the rise of women’s football. Netflix will either outsource the production of the games and studio coverage or build a sports division to produce the content itself (which would be a tens of millions of dollars investment, but Netflix has no shortage of money).

Viewership for the Women’s World Cup was high in the United States (Christophe Simon/AFP via Getty Images).

If the U.S. team finishes high in the Women’s World Cup, viewership in the U.S. could be huge. The time difference is usually the differentiator. The 2015 final between the United States and Japan, which was broadcast in prime time, averaged 26.7 million viewers. The 2019 final between the United States and the Netherlands averaged 16.9 million viewers on FOX and Telemundo combined. Spain’s victory over England in the 2023 final was the most-watched Women’s World Cup final on American television in which the United States did not participate. It attracted 2.1 million viewers, for a total English and Spanish language audience of 2,059,000 on Fox and Telemundo.

The 2023 tournament brought huge viewership to Fox while the US was still there, including setting a record for the most-watched WWC group stage game in US history when 6.43 million watched the US win over the Netherlands on Fox the record surpassed the previous record (USWNT vs. Chile in 2019) of over one million viewers.

Don’t underestimate this step today. It’s a turning point for Netflix and global women’s soccer in the US

(Top photo: Maddie Meyer – FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)