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Netflix will enter 2025 with a drastically bigger sports footprint than it entered 2024 with.
On Friday, the company announced it had reached an agreement with FIFA to stream the 2027 and 2031 Women’s World Cup.
The competition is the first one to be acquired in full by Netflix and will provide U.S. fans with access to every match in addition to studio shows. The deal also includes Puerto Rico, covers all languages and will include dual telecasts for both English and Spanish broadcasts in the country. Netflix also plans to produce documentaries that detail the lead-up to the World Cup, which will feature some of the world’s top players and explore the global growth of women’s soccer.
The deal ends a 12-year run for Fox, which held the English-language rights for the tournament since the 2015 Women’s World Cup. It will mark the first time that any World Cup matches, men’s or women’s, will be broadcast by a streaming service and not linear television.
“This is a landmark moment for sports media rights,” FIFA president Gianni Infantino said in the release. “As a marquee brand and FIFA’s new long-term partner, Netflix has shown a very strong level of commitment to grow women’s football.”
Netflix has gradually expanded its sports portfolio throughout the year, adding baseball documentaries about the 2004 Red Sox, creating a Hards Knocks–esque show for the NBA called ‘Starting 5’ and becoming the streaming home for the Mike Tyson–Jake Paul fight and for the NFL’s Christmas Day games.
The 2027 Women’s World Cup will take place in Brazil from June 24 to July 25 and will feature 32 countries while the 2031 World Cup location has yet to be announced. The United States and Mexico are making a joint bid to host the 2031 games, and China is interested in hosting, too.
