Netflix has secured the exclusive broadcasting rights in Canada for the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2027 and 2031, mirroring an earlier announced rights deal in the U.S.
World Cups have typically been shown on free-to-air public networks to reach the biggest audiences.
But Netflix has been flexing its sports muscle of late, adding live sports to its extensive menu of movies and TV shows.
The Women's World Cup marks the streaming service's first foray into live soccer. Netflix's U.S. rights deal was announced in December.
The streaming service has been expanding its live sports portfolio with Christmas Day NFL games as well as the Jake Paul-Mike Tyson, Katie Taylor-Amanda Serrano and upcoming Canelo Álvarez-Terence Crawford boxing cards. Netflix also streams the weekly WWE Raw wrestling show.
Netflix says the Taylor-Serrano card drew 74 million live viewers from around the world.
"We will embrace the opportunity to work with Netflix to continue to grow the popularity of the women’s game in Canada — a nation with a rich FIFA Women’s World Cup history," FIFA chief business officer Romy Gai said in a statement.
The 2027 World Cup will be hosted in Brazil from June 24 to July 25, featuring 32 teams competing across eight cities.
The host country for the 2031 tournament, expanded to 48 from 32 teams, is expected to be revealed at the 76th FIFA Congress on April 30, 2026, in Vancouver.
“We are thrilled that Netflix will be FIFA’s exclusive partner in Canada for the Women's World Cup in 2027 and 2031," said Gabe Spitzer, Netflix's vice-president of sports. "With under two years to go until the first match in Brazil, we are hard at work on planning and aim to give fans unparalleled access to the most prestigious competition in women’s football.”
The U.S. Soccer Federation has confirmed its interest in submitting a joint 2031 hosting bid with other CONCACAF member associations.
FIFA calls the Women’s World Cup the biggest women’s sporting event in the world, saying the 2023 tournament, hosted by Australia and New Zealand, attracted close to two million fans to the stadiums and drew more than two billion views across television, streaming and social media platforms.
FIFA announced in early June that for the first time, it was selling the rights to the 2027 and '31 women's tournaments "on a stand-alone basis in Canada," as opposed to bundled with other FIFA events. The deadline for bid submissions was July 10.
TSN and CTV combined to broadcast all 64 matches at the 2023 tournament.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 8, 2024
Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press
