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Netflix’s surprise deal for exclusive U.S. media rights to the 2027 and 2031 FIFA Women’s World Cups, announced Friday morning, marks yet another advancement of the streamer’s live sports strategy.
Pending any further expansion of the Women’s World Cup (which grew from 24 to 32 teams in 2023), Netflix will stream a total of 128 matches across the next two monthlong tournaments.
That’s new territory for the technology giant, which once suggested it was interested in only one-off, special-edition events.
This is the third major multiyear live sports deal in Netflix’s portfolio, which now includes:
- FIFA Women’s World Cup: 2027 and 2031 editions
- NFL: Three-year deal for Christmas Day games, starting next week
- WWE: 10-year, $5 billion deal for Raw, the promotion’s flagship weekly show, beginning in January
Of course, there was also last month’s Jake Paul–Mike Tyson fight, which Netflix claimed set a streaming record with an estimated average minute audience of 108 million live global viewers.
Lights, Camera, Action
The streamer’s first live sports event came in November 2023, when the The Netflix Cup paired PGA Tour stars from Full Swing with Formula One drivers from Drive to Survive. In March, Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz faced off in a special tennis match, The Netflix Slam.
When the NBA was negotiating its new set of media deals, Netflix reportedly explored acquiring the rights to the league’s in-season tournament, which has since been rebranded to the Emirates NBA Cup.
Beyond live sports, Netflix continues to expand its sports docuseries portfolio. This week, it announced a new series around the SEC, and released a trailer for its Jerry Jones doc, America’s Team: The Gambler and His Cowboys. The streamer also has series around the NBA and NFL, in addition to its F1 and PGA Tour shows, among others.
