Awful Announcing
This week, Netflix shocked American soccer fans when they closed a busy 2024 of sports rights acquisitions by buying rights to the 2027 and 2031 FIFA women’s world cups.
Unlike other sports streaming deals that offer global exclusivity, Netflix will now carry the event, which has been dominated by the U.S. women’s national team most of this century, in the U.S. only. So, while other countries could still have free access to the women’s World Cup, the Netflix deal cements soccer in America as something fans can largely only watch on streaming.
That means American soccer fans constantly switch between—and pay for—several different platforms to watch their favorite domestic and international competitions. Through deals mainly struck over the past three years, soccer has become almost entirely a streaming sport for American fans.
Start with the men’s side.
In 2023, Major League Soccer began a 10-year, $2.5 billion global exclusive deal with AppleTV+. The U.S. league kept deals with Fox and Univision for certain matches (with poor viewership), but most MLS games are paywalled on the tiny Apple platform.
Beyond MLS, the U.S. men’s national team is split across a few platforms.
U.S. soccer recently struck a deal to air men’s and women’s exhibition games on Max, of which half also air on TNT. Fortunately for the USMNT, Fox has aggressively secured rights with international soccer federations for big tournaments. Between Fox and its FS1 cable network, the Men’s World Cup and CONCACAF events are still relatively cheap and easy to watch.
Among domestic European soccer leagues, almost nothing is free to watch in the U.S. You need ESPN+ to watch England’s FA Cup, Germany’s Bundesliga, and Spain’s La Liga. A Paramount Plus subscription is required in order to watch the top club teams in Europe compete in the UEFA Champions League. Perhaps the only saving grace is that NBC Universal is halfway through a deal with the English Premier League that airs games free on NBC and on basic cable on the USA Network. Still, many EPL games are paywalled on NBCU’s Peacock streaming service. Considering most American fans support a specific Premier League side, they likely need Peacock to ensure they can watch each match.
Last but not least, the less popular but growing Club World Cup just moved to DAZN. Most Americans likely do not have a DAZN subscription outside of diehard boxing fans, given that the company specializes in broadcasting American sports overseas. The Club World Cup will be hosted by the U.S. next year and feature legends like Neymar, who recently left for the African Federation.
If you wanted to watch all Premier League, UEFA and FIFA men’s soccer, you would need subscriptions to Peacock, ESPN+, DAZN, Paramount Plus and basic cable. Right now, that costs a minimum of around $75.
One fair counterpoint is that prior to streaming, fans would have had no chance to watch many of these games. Since America is a smaller market for most of these leagues besides MLS, they are likely happy to take money from the highest American bidder. Nevertheless, the current barriers to entry for American soccer fans (or potential American soccer fans) are egregious. They cross the line of business sense and could actively hold back the sport.
Now, back to women’s soccer.
In an ideal world for the USWNT, Netflix will be a go-to live sports destination by 2027. Perhaps they add NFL, UFC or MLB rights to their current offering and it is a natural platform to flip to and see Trinity Rodman and Co. If not, FIFA and U.S. Soccer run the risk of losing an American audience.
Beyond the World Cup, most European domestic leagues parallel their men’s counterparts. ESPN+ airs Women’s Super League games from England, and the top women’s division of La Liga shows games on DAZN.
Still, there are bright spots. American women’s sports leagues have the longest track record of any pro women’s sports worldwide, so they know the value of exposure. The NWSL deal from 2023 placed games free on ION, CBS and ABC as well as cable on ESPN plus Prime Video and other streamers. NWSL fans can get nearly 100 regular-season games for free on broadcast television, as well as the entire championship series.
The often-overlooked Liga MX is quietly the most popular soccer league in America. It airs games in the U.S. on Television networks.
FIFA clearly sold rights to the Women’s World Cup to the highest bidder. The body called the value of its new deal with Netflix “landmark.” Another thing to consider before mourning the widespread availability of women’s soccer is that Puck’s John Ourand reported FIFA was demanding that any streamer bidding for these rights sublicense them to another network. Whether Netflix cedes to that demand or pays FIFA enough for it to forget about that demand will tell how easily fans can access the sport.
This matters more for women’s soccer. While men’s soccer fans may complain about the cost and difficulty of following the sport, MLS is making billions. The Men’s World Cup is still a breeze to watch.
NWSL is still in its infancy. The Women’s World Cup was the main way fans engaged with women’s soccer. Winning that tournament catapulted USWNT stars like Megan Rapinoe and Alex Morgan to celebrity status, turbocharging efforts for equal pay, and even the growth of the NWSL itself.
Given that MLS still won’t release subscription and viewership details on its much-maligned partnership with Apple, it should serve as a cautionary tale of what happens when aspiring growth leagues hide behind paywalls at the wrong time. Even with the arrival of Lionel Messi, MLS is mostly anonymous in the country as it cashes checks subsidized by iPhone sales.
At the same time as these broadcasting trends restrict access to consuming the sport, the price of competitive youth soccer in the U.S. is increasing. Pro and college football are increasing the gap on television. With live sports rights more valuable than ever and more platforms airing sports than ever, by jumping on the streaming bandwagon so early, soccer may have turned a real growth opportunity into a get-rich-quick scheme.
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.
“I was conflicted about it beforehand. I had a tough decision to make, and I made the wrong decision, and I’m sorry.”
“You called him a cheater earlier.”
“Why do you care about what some guy puts on the internet, who’s a fat guy, in his underwear, living in his mother’s basement?”
“An epic journey celebrating the vibrant Louisiana culture while also honoring John Madden’s legacy.”
Saban didn’t have much of a problem with leaving his LSU players behind when he took the Dolphins job.
Indiana beat Purdue 66-0 this season.
“I was conflicted about it beforehand. I had a tough decision to make, and I made the wrong decision, and I’m sorry.”
“You called him a cheater earlier.”
“Why do you care about what some guy puts on the internet, who’s a fat guy, in his underwear, living in his mother’s basement?”
“An epic journey celebrating the vibrant Louisiana culture while also honoring John Madden’s legacy.”
Saban didn’t have much of a problem with leaving his LSU players behind when he took the Dolphins job.
Indiana beat Purdue 66-0 this season.
