MW Netflix expected to broaden subscriber base after winning Women's World Cup bid
By Weston Blasi
Netflix now has soccer, WWE and boxing as part of its live sports portfolio
Netflix $(NFLX)$ and FIFA have agreed to a U.S. broadcast deal for the 2027 and 2031 Women's World Cup, further entrenching the streaming company into the live sports sector which includes the NFL, boxing, and WWE.
The new FIFA deal "reflects the streamer's aim to make live sports a major part of its brand strategy," Jacqueline Corbelli, chief executive of BrightLine, a technology company that specializes in television advertising, told MarketWatch.
"It also helps build a different type of prestige and creates credibility to the Netflix brand in the sports broadcasting space," she added.
The terms of the deal were not disclosed, but it's likely that Netflix paid millions for the rights to the 2027 and 2031 World Cups. In 2011, Fox won broadcast rights to both tournaments from 2015 to 2022, and the cost for media companies to buy TV rights for live sports have spiked since then.
"By acquiring FIFA's live broadcast rights, Netflix attracts a new audience of female sports fans, broadens its subscriber base and therefore ad reach," Corbelli said.
The 2023 Women's World Cup was the first in which FIFA sold the media rights as a standalone package separate from the men's tournament, and now the two tournaments will be sold separately moving forward.
Fox currently owns the men's world cup package and will broadcast the 2026 men's tournament, which will be held in North America for the first time since 1994. At the men's 2022 World Cup in Qatar, 32 teams shared the $440 million prize pool. For the women's 2023 tournament, FIFA had a $152 million total fund for prize money, contributions to teams' preparation costs and payments to players' clubs.
"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. "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 will also produce an exclusive documentary series for both tournaments that will be tasked with "spotlighting the world's top players, their journeys and the global growth of women's football," FIFA said.
"This is a landmark moment for sports media rights," said FIFA President Gianni Infantino. "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.
The 2023 Women's World Cup amassed 1.9 billion viewers over the 64 matches played across ten stadiums in Australia and New Zealand. The deal with Netflix is for U.S. audiences, and there may be additional over-the-air broadcasts available in other countries, which have yet to be announced.
See: Want to watch every NFL game this season? It's going to cost you nearly $2,500.
Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos had said in the past that his company wasn't interested in getting into live sports. "We're not anti-sports, we're just pro-profit," he said in 2022, and added that Netflix "can get twice as big without sports." But now Netflix is heavily investing in sports.
Netflix's stock hit a record high after news that its Mike Tyson and Jake Paul fight in November drew 108 million viewers.
On Christmas Day, Netflix will be broadcasting its live sporting event from one of the major four American sports: the NFL.
The Super Bowl LVIII-winning Kansas City Chiefs will play the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Baltimore Ravens will square off against the Houston Texans on Christmas Day. Netflix paid a reported $150 million for the pair of NFL games this year, and will pay more for games in 2025 and 2026 too, according to the Wall Street Journal.
More non-traditional broadcasters are buying up sports rights. Comcast's $(CMCSA)$ Peacock owns rights to the Premier League, Amazon $(AMZN)$ owns the NFL's Thursday Night Football and AppleTV $(AAPL)$ owns MLS rights.
Shares of Netflix are up 86.7% over the past year months, compared with a 24% gain for the S&P 500 SPX over the same period.
See: Netflix may raise prices as a result of NFL programming, expert says.
-Weston Blasi
This content was created by MarketWatch, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. MarketWatch is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 21, 2024 11:47 ET (16:47 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2024 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Comments