The FIFA Women’s World Cup is coming off traditional television channels in the United States and Canada and joining Netflix.
Announced in partnership with FIFA, Netflix unveiled that it has secured the broadcasting rights to the 2027 and 2031 Women’s World Cup tournaments in the U.S. and Canada.
The American deal was announced in December, with the Canadian agreement followed up on Aug. 8. In the U.S., the rights move to the streaming giant after 10 years with Fox Sports, while Netflix takes over in Canada from TSN, which held the rights from 2015 through the 2026 men’s World Cup.
It marks the first time that Netflix has taken on the rights to live soccer, and it joins the likes of DAZN, Apple TV, Amazon Prime, Fubo and other streaming services to take on live matches in a step towards a new era of sports watching.
“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.”
While details were sparse in the initial announcement, DAZN was the last major streaming service to broadcast a FIFA tournament with the FIFA Club World Cup 2025. In that deal, matches were free to watch online, and several made their way to traditional linear television channels.
At the same time, the DAZN Club World Cup package included studio and original programming, unlike many streaming services that take on sporting properties.
Netflix has previously broadcast live sports, notably with the Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul boxing match in 2024. However, that fight featured the service cutting out for several users, among other technical problems that will have to be sorted out for the World Cups and potential other properties.
In addition to Paul vs. Tyson, Netflix has broadcast live Christmas Day NFL games, and the Katie Taylor vs. Amanda Serrano fight card, with Netflix saying the latter drew 74 million live viewers worldwide.
“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.
Brazil is set to host the 2027 Women’s World Cup, while the 2031 tournament is in its bidding process, with U.S. Soccer confirming its hosting interest in conjunction with other Concacaf nations.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Netflix Takes Over FIFA Women’s World Cup Broadcasts in United States and Canada.
