FIFA eyes global streaming gatekeepers to quadruple World Cup broadcast revenue

The shift toward centralized streaming gatekeepers marks a fundamental change in how sports rights are aggregated and monetized globally. If FIFA successfully follows the Olympic model of selling to a single platform like Discovery, it forces legacy broadcasters into sublicensing roles while giving tech giants unprecedented control over premium reach. This strategy prioritizes revenue maximization over the traditional wide-reach reach of public broadcasting, potentially limiting live access to subscription-only tiers in markets without strict listed-events legislation. Watch for the upcoming 2030 U.S. rights auction, where bundled English and Spanish language packages are expected to command up to $2 billion.

FIFA is already executing this strategy in the women's and club sectors to establish a blueprint for the men's flagship event. Per the Associated Press and FIFA announcements in December 2024, Netflix secured the exclusive U.S. broadcasting rights for the 2027 and 2031 Women’s World Cups, marking the first time the streamer has acquired an entire tournament in full. This was followed by an August 2025 deal expanding that exclusivity to the Canadian market, replacing long-time rights holders Fox Sports and TSN. These deals indicate FIFA's willingness to abandon traditional linear networks for platforms capable of providing global scale and auxiliary production.

Simultaneously, FIFA has deepened its technical and commercial ties with DAZN. According to DAZN and FIFA filings from late 2024 and early 2025, the streaming service was confirmed as the exclusive global broadcaster for the expanded 32-team Club World Cup 2025. While DAZN offered matches for free to build its user base, the partnership includes integrating the FIFA+ DTC service into the DAZN ecosystem. Per Sportspro in October 2025, the two organizations plan to relaunch FIFA+ on DAZN as a 'global home of soccer' in 2026, using a freemium model to capture 8,500 live matches annually alongside archive content.

Market demand for these rights remains historically high despite the projected costs. Reporting from Forbes and MediaPost in July 2026 suggests a looming bidding war for the 2030 and 2034 U.S. rights involving Netflix, Disney, and YouTube. To drive prices higher, FIFA has alerted potential bidders that it intends to bundle English and Spanish language rights into a single package. Industry estimates suggest U.S. media executives are already budgeting between $1.5 billion and $2 billion per tournament cycle, fueled by record-breaking viewership for the 2026 edition in North America.