Netflix, Disney, YouTube Eye FIFA World Cup U.S. Rights in $2B Deal
FIFA is bundling English and Spanish U.S. broadcast rights for 2030 and 2034, potentially pushing the price tag to $2 billion.
Major streaming and media giants are circling a landmark sports rights package as FIFA signals it will sell combined English- and Spanish-language U.S. broadcast rights for the 2030 and 2034 FIFA World Cups together — a bundling strategy that analysts expect to send the final price soaring toward $2 billion.
Netflix, Disney, and YouTube are among the interested parties, according to reporting from CNBC, marking a significant moment for the streaming industry as it increasingly competes with traditional broadcasters for premium live sports. The involvement of Netflix in particular would represent a dramatic escalation of the platform's live sports ambitions, having only recently begun experimenting with marquee live events.
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FIFA's decision to package both language rights together is a deliberate move to maximize revenue. Spanish-language World Cup broadcasts have historically delivered enormous audiences in the United States, where the Latino population represents one of the sport's most passionate fan bases. Bundling the two removes the ability for a single bidder to acquire only the more competitively priced English rights, effectively raising the floor for any winning offer.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup, co-hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico, is expected to shatter domestic viewership records and set the commercial stage for these subsequent rights negotiations. Whoever secures the 2030 and 2034 packages will be positioned to own one of the most-watched sporting events on the planet for nearly a decade — an increasingly rare and valuable proposition in a fragmented media landscape.
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