Netflix Wins 2030 World Cup Rights for Spain and Andorra
Netflix will stream all 104 matches of the FIFA World Cup 2030 live in Spain and Andorra. One game per matchday will be free, and Spain's matches, the semi-finals and the final will also go to a free-to-air channel.
Netflix has acquired exclusive rights to the FIFA World Cup 2030 in Spain and Andorra and intends to carry all 104 matches live on its service. The 2030 edition marks one hundred years since the first tournament, held in Uruguay in 1930. Spain, which enters as defending champion, is one of three host nations together with Morocco and Portugal, while a set of centenary matches will be staged in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay.
What viewers in Spain will get
The company says the coverage will go beyond the games themselves. Plans include studio shows before kick-off, at halftime and after the final whistle, all presented from a Spanish point of view, plus a daily round-up on match days and programmes scheduled in the run-up to the tournament. Not everything will sit behind a subscription: one match on each matchday will be free to watch in Spain. In addition, a package covering every game of the Spanish national team, the two semi-finals and the final will be offered to a national free-to-air broadcaster. Netflix has not yet named that partner and says details will follow closer to the tournament.
A wider relationship with FIFA
The deal extends existing ties between the streaming service and football's governing body. Netflix already holds the rights to the FIFA Women's World Cup in 2027 and 2031 for the United States and Canada. Its live sports line-up elsewhere includes NFL games, MLB, WWE and major boxing and MMA fights. In Spain the service has so far approached sport mainly through documentaries, among them RAFA, The Figo Affair, Carlos Alcaraz: My Way and LALIGA: All Access, as well as Captains of the World, made in partnership with FIFA.
Bela Bajaria, Netflix's chief content officer, said she watched from the stands this year as Spain lifted the trophy, and described welcoming the world as reigning champions as a moment "unlike any other" for Spanish fans. FIFA secretary general Mattias Grafström called 2030 a special edition of the tournament and said both sides want as many people as possible to share in the competition.
Source: Netflix