Netflix has secured the media rights to broadcast the 2027 and 2031 editions of the FIFA Women’s World Cup in the United States, the streaming platform and FIFA announced on Friday. The deal marks the first time that media rights to the Women’s World Cup have been sold separately from the Men’s World Cup.
The deal is inclusive of media rights in all languages in the U.S. and includes Puerto Rico.
For FIFA, the deal is a marked shift away from traditional broadcasting. Fox held the U.S. English-language media rights to the past three editions of the Women’s World Cup and aired the games on a mix of broadcast and cable.
In addition to live coverage of the tournaments, FIFA said Netflix will produce “exclusive documentary series in the lead-up” to both events, and “star-studded studio shows.”
“This is a landmark moment for sports media rights,” FIFA president Gianni Infantino said in a statement. “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. FIFA and Netflix partnering together makes this a truly historic day for broadcasting and for women’s football.
“Besides broadcasting the tournaments themselves, Netflix will play a key role in terms of bringing the fascination of women’s football to a multimillion audience in the lead-up to both final tournaments, thereby enabling us to further increase their appeal.”
Brazil will host the 2027 Women’s World Cup from June 24 to July 25 that year. The host for the 2031 Women’s World Cup is expected to be selected in the second quarter of 2025. The U.S. and Mexico have publicly stated that they will bid on the event.
Infantino has been vocal about equalizing prize money between the Men’s and Women’s World Cups, and he has previously been critical of broadcasters’ unwillingness to pay more for the women’s event — the latter being an important cause in producing the former as an effect.
He has also publicly hinted at the idea of expanding the Women’s World Cup to 48 teams in 2031.
The agreement for the 2027 and 2031 World Cups is also historic for Netflix: The Women’s World Cup is the first sports competition that the platform has acquired in its entirety for livestreaming.
“I’ve seen the fandom for the FIFA Women’s World Cup grow tremendously — from the electric atmosphere in France in 2019 to, most recently, the incredible energy we saw across Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand last year,” said Netflix chief content officer Bela Bajaria in a statement. “Bringing this iconic tournament to Netflix isn’t just about streaming matches, it’s also about celebrating the players, the culture and the passion driving the global rise of women’s sport.”
Netflix became famous over the past decade for streaming entertainment and has dabbled into sports in recent years. Its “Drive to Survive” docuseries on Formula 1 racing is among its most famous sports endeavors, but the company has recently begun dabbling in live sports.
Last month, Netflix aired a live boxing match between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul. Netflix said the fight attracted 108 million viewers globally, although those numbers are not independently verified. In real time, the fight was marred by technical difficulties, including buffering.
Netflix will air two live NFL games next week on Christmas Day.
These recent moves mark a dramatic shift in positioning for the company after co-CEO Ted Sarandos previously said the company was interested in “the drama of sports,” but not the live product.
Current prices for Netflix in the U.S. range from $6.99 per month with ads and other limitations, to $22.99 per month for the premium subscription without ads.
The last three Women’s World Cup finals have been broadcast on Fox, a free, over-the-air channel.
