Netflix next summer will embark on its largest broadcasting effort to date with the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup, but the streamer may have its sights set on an even larger prize -- the 2030 Men’s World Cup. Netflix VP/Sports Gabe Spitzer during a podcast appearance with The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand said that the company will “want to have a conversation” with FIFA about landing the rights to the event set to be jointly hosted by Morocco, Portugal and Spain. Fox has had Men’s World Cup rights in the U.S. since 2018, but their deal expires after this summer’s tournament in North America. Spitzer said while landing domestic rights to an event like the Men’s World Cup is important, the company wants to “make sure we’re … not just looking at it through the U.S. lens.” He said, “Having rights here matters because the most subscribers are here. But more and more, we’re thinking about ‘What is truly our global sports strategy?’ We want global rights when we can get them. All of our boxing fights are available around the world, NFL games are available around the world.”
LOOKING TO NEXT SUMMER: Spitzer called next summer’s Women’s World Cup “by far the most ambitious thing” Netflix has undertaken. He noted, “It’s different than doing a single-day event. It’s 64 matches for over a month. … It’s going from 0 to more than 60 -- 0 to 100 -- in terms of what we’ve done in the past and what we’re going to be doing next summer.” Netflix have different channels available in both the U.S. and Canada for English- and Spanish-language broadcasts and more than 100 on-air talent to fill those channels. The company will be based in Rio de Janeiro, and Spitzer said, “We’re building out a studio set over a road on Copacabana Beach that’s going to have our two sets directly next to each other overlooking a beautiful view” (“The Main Event with Andrew Marchand,” 5/20).
