AP – Netflix has secured the United States (US) broadcasting rights to the Women’s World Cup in 2027 and 2031 as the streaming giant continues its push into live sports.
The deal announced on Friday is the most significant FIFA has signed with a streaming service for a major tournament. The value was not given, though international competitions in women’s football have struggled to draw high-value offers.
“Bringing this iconic tournament to Netflix isn’t just about streaming matches,” its chief content officer Bela Bajaria said in a statement.
“It’s also about celebrating the players, the culture and the passion driving the global rise of women’s sport.”
Netflix dipped into live sports last month with more than 60 million households watching a heavily hyped boxing match between retired heavyweight legend Mike Tyson and social media personality Jake Paul.
Some viewers reported streaming problems, however.
Netflix also will broadcast two NFL games on December 25: the Kansas City Chiefs at the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens at the Houston Texans. That’s part of a three-year deal announced in May.
World Cups are typically broadcast on free-to-air public networks to reach the biggest audiences, and the last women’s edition in 2023 earned FIFA less than 10 per cent of the men’s 2022 World Cup.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino had publicly criticised public broadcasters, especially in Europe, for undervaluing offers to broadcast the 2023 tournament that was played in Australia and New Zealand. That tournament was broadcast by Fox in the US.
“This agreement sends a strong message about the real value of the FIFA Women’s World Cup and the global women’s game,” Infantino said. The World Cup rights mark another major step in Netflix’s push into live programming. It’s recipe that Netflix has cooked up to help sell more advertising, a top priority for the company since it introduced a low-priced version of its streaming service that includes commercials two years ago.
The ad-supported version is now the fastest growing part of Netflix’s service, although most of its 283 million worldwide subscribers till pay for higher-priced options without commercial.
But Netflix is still trying to sell more ads to boost its revenue, which is expected to be about USD30 billion. Netflix executives have predicted it might take two or three years before its ad sales become a major part of its revenue.
Netflix expects to spend about USD17 billion on programming this year – a budget that the Los Gatos, California, company once funneled almost entirely into scripted TV series and movies.
But Netflix is now allocating a significant chunk of that money to sports and live events, a shift that has made it a formidable competitor to traditional media bidding for the same rights.
FIFA will likely use the Netflix deal to drive talks with European broadcasters that likely will be hardball negotiations.
Football finance expert Kieran Maguire, a co-host of The Price of Football podcast, suggested the deal was “a bit of a gamble” for FIFA and “saber-rattling” by Infantino.
