Esther Gonzalez of Spain kisses the FIFA Women's World Cup trophy after the team's victory in the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup Australia-New Zealand 2023 final match between Spain and England at Australia Stadium on August 20, 2023.
Alex Pantling – FIFA | FIFA | Getty Images
Netflix on Friday announced has secured exclusive U.S. rights to the 2027 and 2031 FIFA Women's World Cups.
The announcement comes days before Netflix's release stream the first-ever National Football League Christmas games. The addition of the Women's World Cup to its portfolio shows that the streaming giant continues to expand its sports rights portfolio. This also happens as women's sports grow in popularity He is risen over the last year.
“I have seen a huge increase in interest in the FIFA Women's World Cup – starting with the electric atmosphere in France in 2019 and most recently the incredible energy in Australia and New Zealand in 2023.” – said Bela Bajaria, Netflix chief content officer, in a press release. “Bringing this iconic tournament to Netflix is about more than just streaming the matches – it's about celebrating the players, the culture and the passion that is driving the global growth of women's sports.”
The 2027 tournament will be held in 12 cities across Brazil. The host country of the 2031 tournament has not yet been announced.
Netflix said its coverage of the Women's World Cup will include commentary and entertainment from studio programming and top talent, as well as original Netflix documentaries covering the sport's top players and rapidly growing fan base in the run-up to the tournament.
The Women's World Cup does popularity continued to growAND more people in the US they expected the women's final in 2019 more than the men's final in 2018. US viewership decreased significantly however, in 2023, after the elimination of the two-time defending champions in the 1/8 finals.
As audiences for the WNBA and the women's national soccer team have grown significantly in the U.S., soccer remains one of the most popular sports in the world.
Netflix has 282.7 million subscribers worldwide, and the streamer is pushing for international growth, thanks in part to its cheaper, ad-supported tier.
Sports media rights valuations have also skyrocketed for media companies as live sports broadcasts attract the largest audiences.
Netflix continues to expand in the sports category, last month streaming the Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul fight, which was watched by 108 million viewers, making it the most broadcast sporting event in historyaccording to Netflix.
On Christmas Day, the streamer will broadcast NFL doubleheaders featuring the Kansas City Chiefs vs. Pittsburgh Steelers and the Baltimore Ravens vs. Houston Texans.