Slowly but surely, Netflix is adding more live sports for subscribers.
Since one of its biggest acquisitions was the exclusive U.S. rights to the next two FIFA women’s World Cups, the natural question is whether the streamer will pursue U.S. rights to the men’s World Cup after its deal with Fox Sports expires.
This summer’s North American-based tournament will be the last under Fox’s current distribution deal, and the company is expected to face significant competition if it wants to re-up. Previously, Fox Corp. CEO Lachlan Murdoch had hinted that the company may need to “rebalance” its sports portfolio to make room for its next NFL rights deal.
In a new interview with The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand, Netflix VP of Sports Gabe Spitzer all but confirmed that the streamer will discuss taking over those rights with FIFA.
“I think with any big event, we want to have the conversation,” Spitzer said, via the Marchand Sports Media podcast.
“And I think we want to also want to make sure … we’re not just looking at it from the U.S. lens. Obviously, having rights here matters because the most subscribers are here, but more and more, we’re thinking about it as what truly is our global sports strategy? And we want global rights when we can get them.”
As examples of that, Spitzer cited Netflix’s deal to air World Baseball Classic games in Japan, Concacaf soccer events in Mexico, and WWE shows around the world.
Netflix will air every match in the 2027 and 2031 women’s World Cups in multiple languages to U.S. subscribers. FIFA has long-term deals with networks in major countries worldwide for its World Cup tournaments. Fox’s rights are limited to U.S. broadcasts.
When Spitzer gave his answer about the streamer’s thinking on the men’s tournament, he referenced a previous comment in the interview about why the scarcity and status of World Cups appeal to Netflix.
“When it comes to the World Cup in 2030, it’s like the women’s World Cup,” he said. “Those events only come along every now and then, so obviously we’ll have those conversations and see what happens.”
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.