Netflix has secured the exclusive broadcast rights in the United States 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 has not been disclosed but FIFA has described it as “landmark”.AdvertisementNetflix, which has streamed documentaries on the USWNT and Spanish national side at the 2023 competition, will also produce a documentary series in the lead-up to both tournaments.A release from FIFA said the “historic deal” would “provide U.S.-based fans with unparalleled access to every match live and to immersive coverage, including star-studded studio shows”. It added: “The agreement includes Puerto Rico and covers all languages, with top-tier talent poised to feature in a dual telecast for both English- and Spanish-language broadcasts in the US.”“This is a landmark moment for sports media rights,” said FIFA president Gianni Infantino. “As a marquee brand and FIFA’s new long-term partner, Netflix has shown a very strong level of commitment to growing women’s football. This agreement sends a strong message about the real value of the FIFA Women’s World Cup and the global women’s game.”While Netflix has long produced sports documentaries, it is a relative newcomer to streaming live sport. November’s 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, which became the most watched professional women’s sports event in U.S. history with 74million viewers.“Our record-breaking success with Amanda Serrano vs. Katie Taylor demonstrated the massive appetite for women’s sports and live programming,” added Netflix chief content officer Bela Bajaria. “Bringing this iconic tournament to Netflix is not just about streaming matches — it’s about celebrating the players, the culture, and the passion driving the global rise of women’s sports.”The Paul-Tyson fight, though, did encounter frequent issues with buffering and streaming. Netflix also has the rights to two NFL games on Christmas Day, the Kansas City Chiefs at the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Baltimore Ravens at the Houston Texans, making the streaming service’s first foray into live action of the sport.GO DEEPER'Watch what Netflix does': Unwrapping the NFL's Christmas Day experimentFox, meanwhile, had held the broadcast rights for the 2023 Women’s World Cup in the U.S. 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 bid separately for rights to the Women’s World Cup. Previously, the Women’s World Cup was included as an add-on in the broadcasters’ package when they bought the men’s World Cup rights.AdvertisementInfantino had publicly criticised bids for the media right ahead of the 2023 tournament, labelling them “unacceptable”.The 2027 World Cup will take place in Brazil, while U.S. Soccer and the Mexican Soccer Federation announced in April their intention to lodge a joint bid for the 2031 World Cup. The two federations withdrew their bid for the 2027 tournament to instead focus on 2031.Speaking in May 2023, English Football Association chairwoman Debbie Hewitt also described the possibility of England hosting the 2031 tournament as a “very attractive proposition”.‘A game-changer for Netflix and global women’s soccer in the U.S.’Analysis by Senior Writer, Sports Media Richard DeitschYou won’t find many places better on the subject of Netflix and its grand ambitions than the research firm MoffettNathanson, which provides trends in media, communications and technology to institutional investors. Michael Nathanson, the co-founder and senior managing director of the research firm that carries his name, evaluated Netflix for many years and has a guiding principle when it comes to the company: Watch what Netflix does and not what the company says.The company securing the exclusive U.S. rights to the Women’s World Cup for the 2027 and 2031 tournaments is an earthquake in the sports space. It is the first time the tournament will appear on a streaming service and changes the game when it comes to soccer consumption in the United States. It is a significant signal to the marketplace that Netflix has shifted from being interested in sports adjacent properties to a legitimate sports rights holder. As the company has moved from a pure subscriber company to one that’s now in the advertising business, it wants to scale ad consumption and revenue, and there are few better content plays to sell ads against than sports.AdvertisementIt’s also an inspired choice given the ascendency of women’s soccer. Netflix will either outsource the production of the games and studio coverage or build up a sports division to produce the content itself (which would be an investment in the tens of millions but money is something Netflix is not short on). Viewership numbers of the Women’s World Cup has been big in the U.S (Christophe Simon/AFP via Getty ImagesWhen the U.S. team goes deep in the Women’s World Cup, the viewership numbers in the U.S. can be massive. The time difference is usually the differentiator. The U.S.-Japan final in 2015, airing in primetime, averaged 26.7 million viewers. The final between the United States-Netherlands in 2019 averaged a combined 16.9 million viewers across FOX and Telemundo. Spain’s victory over England in 2023 final was the most-watched Women’s World Cup final on American television that did not include the United States, drawing 2.1 million viewers for a combined English- and Spanish-language audience of 2,059,000 on Fox and Telemundo.The 2023 tournament did produce some massive viewership numbers for Fox when the U.S. was still in it, including setting a record for the most-watched WWC group-stage match in U.S. history when 6.43 million watched the U.S. defeat the Netherlands on Fox, surpassing the previous record (USWNT versus Chile in 2019) by over a million viewers.Don’t undersell this move today. It’s a game-changer for Netflix and global women’s soccer in the U.S.(Top photo: Maddie Meyer

Netflix secures U.S. broadcast rights for 2027, 2031 Women's World Cups

Netflix has secured the exclusive broadcast rights in the United States 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 has not been disclosed but FIFA has described it as “landmark”. […]

Netflix has secured the exclusive broadcast rights in the United States 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 has not been disclosed but FIFA has described it as “landmark”.

Netflix, which has streamed documentaries on the USWNT and Spanish national side at the 2023 competition, will also produce a documentary series in the lead-up to both tournaments.

A release from FIFA said the “historic deal” would “provide U.S.-based fans with unparalleled access to every match live and to immersive coverage, including star-studded studio shows”. It added: “The agreement includes Puerto Rico and covers all languages, with top-tier talent poised to feature in a dual telecast for both English- and Spanish-language broadcasts in the US.”

“This is a landmark moment for sports media rights,” said FIFA president Gianni Infantino. “As a marquee brand and FIFA’s new long-term partner, Netflix has shown a very strong level of commitment to growing women’s football. This agreement sends a strong message about the real value of the FIFA Women’s World Cup and the global women’s game.”

While Netflix has long produced sports documentaries, it is a relative newcomer to streaming live sport. November’s 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, which became the most watched professional women’s sports event in U.S. history with 74million viewers.

“Our record-breaking success with Amanda Serrano vs. Katie Taylor demonstrated the massive appetite for women’s sports and live programming,” added Netflix chief content officer Bela Bajaria. “Bringing this iconic tournament to Netflix is not just about streaming matches — it’s about celebrating the players, the culture, and the passion driving the global rise of women’s sports.”

The Paul-Tyson fight, though, did encounter frequent issues with buffering and streaming. Netflix also has the rights to two NFL games on Christmas Day, the Kansas City Chiefs at the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Baltimore Ravens at the Houston Texans, making the streaming service’s first foray into live action of the sport.

GO DEEPER’Watch what Netflix does’: Unwrapping the NFL’s Christmas Day experiment

Fox, meanwhile, had held the broadcast rights for the 2023 Women’s World Cup in the U.S. 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 bid separately for rights to the Women’s World Cup. Previously, the Women’s World Cup was included as an add-on in the broadcasters’ package when they bought the men’s World Cup rights.

Infantino had publicly criticised bids for the media right ahead of the 2023 tournament, labelling them “unacceptable”.

The 2027 World Cup will take place in Brazil, while U.S. Soccer and the Mexican Soccer Federation announced in April their intention to lodge a joint bid for the 2031 World Cup. The two federations withdrew their bid for the 2027 tournament to instead focus on 2031.

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

‘A game-changer for Netflix and global women’s soccer in the U.S.’

Analysis by Senior Writer, Sports Media Richard Deitsch

You won’t find many places better on the subject of Netflix and its grand ambitions than the research firm MoffettNathanson, which provides trends in media, communications and technology to institutional investors. Michael Nathanson, the co-founder and senior managing director of the research firm that carries his name, evaluated Netflix for many years and has a guiding principle when it comes to the company: Watch what Netflix does and not what the company says.

The company securing the exclusive U.S. rights to the Women’s World Cup for the 2027 and 2031 tournaments is an earthquake in the sports space. It is the first time the tournament will appear on a streaming service and changes the game when it comes to soccer consumption in the United States. It is a significant signal to the marketplace that Netflix has shifted from being interested in sports adjacent properties to a legitimate sports rights holder. As the company has moved from a pure subscriber company to one that’s now in the advertising business, it wants to scale ad consumption and revenue, and there are few better content plays to sell ads against than sports.

It’s also an inspired choice given the ascendency of women’s soccer. Netflix will either outsource the production of the games and studio coverage or build up a sports division to produce the content itself (which would be an investment in the tens of millions but money is something Netflix is not short on).

Viewership numbers of the Women’s World Cup has been big in the U.S (Christophe Simon/AFP via Getty Images

When the U.S. team goes deep in the Women’s World Cup, the viewership numbers in the U.S. can be massive. The time difference is usually the differentiator. The U.S.-Japan final in 2015, airing in primetime, averaged 26.7 million viewers. The final between the United States-Netherlands in 2019 averaged a combined 16.9 million viewers across FOX and Telemundo. Spain’s victory over England in 2023 final was the most-watched Women’s World Cup final on American television that did not include the United States, drawing 2.1 million viewers for a combined English- and Spanish-language audience of 2,059,000 on Fox and Telemundo.

The 2023 tournament did produce some massive viewership numbers for Fox when the U.S. was still in it, including setting a record for the most-watched WWC group-stage match in U.S. history when 6.43 million watched the U.S. defeat the Netherlands on Fox, surpassing the previous record (USWNT versus Chile in 2019) by over a million viewers.

Don’t undersell this move today. It’s a game-changer for Netflix and global women’s soccer in the U.S.

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