Netflix grabs Women’s World Cup, but can England fans still watch Lionesses for free?

Netflix has made a gigantic sports streaming play by securing exclusive rights to stream the next two FIFA Women’s World Cup Finals in the United States.

However, the massive Stateside rights deal giving Netflix access to the biggest growth area in world football, won’t prevent UK based football fans from watching the tournaments on free-to-air television, unless there’s a major change to the broadcasting laws.

Currently, the Women’s World Cup is one of the ‘crown jewel’ sporting events that broadcasting regulator Ofcom deems must be screened via terrestrial television. The code is currently defined by two separate categories, and the Women’s World Cup is considered a Category A event, where pay TV broadcasters may only share live coverage. This also applies to the FA Cup Final, for example.

As such, even though Netflix has secured the exclusive rights to the 2027 and 2031 tournaments, UK viewers won’t be affected unless Ofcom changes tact.

That’s especially pertinent considering the UK is in the running to host the 2031 tournament. A staggering 12 million people watched the England vs Spain 2023 final on BBC One, and that number would likely grow to include half the country if the 2031 tournament was on home soil.

Netflix is increasingly getting into live sports and, for the first time, will stream NFL games on Christmas Day this year. It has access to WWE Raw from January and recently streamed that farcical Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson ‘fight’.

“As a marquee brand and FIFA’s new long-term partner, Netflix has shown a very strong level of commitment to growing women’s football,” FIFA President Gianni Infantino said (via Reuters)

“Besides broadcasting the tournaments themselves, Netflix will play a key role in terms of bringing the fascination of women’s football to a multi-million audience in the lead-up to both final tournaments, thereby enabling us to further increase their appeal.”

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