FIFA Opens World Cup Bidding For 2030 With Netflix, YouTube Among Suitors

After a record-setting World Cup last summer, FIFA has officially opened the bidding for U.S. rights to the 2030 edition of the men’s soccer tournament.

The auction will also include a potential option for 2034, according to press reports Thursday.

Thanks in large part to an expanded field and a base in ratings-friendly North America, last summer’s Cup drew huge audiences on Fox and Telemundo in the U.S. Fox and Telemundo parent NBCUniversal are said to be interested in a renewal, but streaming giants Netflix, YouTube, Apple and Amazon Prime Video are also widely reported to be taking a close look.

Netflix chief content officer Bela Bajaria, who was let go this week amid a major exec shakeup, affirmed the company’s interest in bidding. The company already took a big step in that direction by locking up the next two Women’s World Cups as part of a push into live events and sports.

“We have a great relationship with [FIFA] because we have the Women’s World Cup and [we’re] having those conversations,” Bajaria said at a Financial Times conference in L.A. “We’re always going to be in the conversation with the leagues.”

Multiple press reports in recent months have estimated the pricetag for rights coming in between $1.5 billion and $2 billion.

FIFA is asking for bids to be submitted by November 19, and it intends to settle on a winner by the end of the year.

It’s the first time rights have been shopped by FIFA since 2011, and the current landscape looks a lot different than it did then. The inherently global nature of Big Tech firms presents an intriguing possibility of some of them looking to acquire rights in the U.S. and several other territories, though longstanding relationships with broadcasters in many parts of the world will also hold sway.

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