Netflix signs US broadcast deal
with FIFA for the Women's World Cup in 2027 and 2031
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 [December 21, 2024]
By GRAHAM DUNBAR
GENEVA (AP) — Netflix has secured the U.S. 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 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 soccer 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 Christmas Day: 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% of the men's 2022 World Cup.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino had publicly criticized 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 U.S.
“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 $30 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 $17 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.
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Colombia's Linda Caicedo participates during a women's Group A
soccer match between Colombia and Canada at the 2024 Summer
Olympics, Wednesday, July 31, 2024, at Nice Stadium in Nice, France.
(AP Photo/Julio Cortez, File)
Soccer 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.
“(Netflix) get experience of football broadcasting, FIFA can say,
‘we are now partnering with a blue chip organization, so watch out
you nasty Europeans,’” Maguire, an academic at the University of
Liverpool, said in a telephone interview.
FIFA and Infantino also want to raise the price of broadcast deals
to help fund increased prize money and close the gender pay gap on
the men’s World Cup.
At the men’s 2022 World Cup in Qatar, the 32 team federations shared
$440 million in prize money. For the women’s 2023 tournament, FIFA
had a $152 million total fund for prize money, contributions to
teams’ preparation costs and payments to players’ clubs.
In FIFA’s financial accounts for 2023, the soccer body reported
total broadcasting revenue of $244 million. In the year of the men’s
2022 World Cup it was almost $2.9 billion.
The next Women's World Cup will be a 32-team, 64-game tournament in
2027, played in Brazil from June 24-July 25. The U.S. originally bid
jointly with Mexico.
The 2031 host has not been decided, though the U.S. likely will bid
for a tournament which FIFA is expected to try to expand to 48
teams. That would match the size of the 104-game format of the men's
World Cup that debuts in 2026 in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
Spain won the 2023 Women's World Cup after the U.S. won the two
previous titles — in France in 2019 and Canada in 2015.
More than 25 million viewers in the U.S. watched the 2015 World Cup
final, a 5-2 win over Japan, played in Vancouver, Canada, in a time
zone similarly favorable to Brazil.
FIFA tried to sign Apple+ to an exclusive global deal to broadcast
the inaugural 32-team Club World Cup which is being played in 11
U.S. cities next June and July.
Broadcast networks showed little interest in the FIFA club event
that will now be broadcast for free on streaming service DAZN, which
is building closer business ties to Saudi Arabia.
Ahead of the next Women's World Cup, Netflix will "produce exclusive
documentary series in the lead-up to both tournaments, spotlighting
the world’s top players, their journeys and the global growth of
women’s football,” FIFA said.
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AP Technology Writer Michael Liedtke in San Francisco contributed to
this report.
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