Report: Netflix poised to challenge ESPN, FOX for 2030 World Cup media rights

As Argentina prepares to take on Spain for the 2026 World Cup final inside MetLife Stadium on Sunday, an even bigger battle is taking place away from the soccer pitch. Worldwide streaming service Netflix is reportedly poised to challenge ESPN and FOX in the upcoming billion dollar bid to acquire the media rights to televise the 2030 men’s FIFA World Cup, according to Front Office Sports. The quadrennial global event, which will next be held in Morocco, Spain and Portugal during the Summer of 2030, is expected to pit three of the world’s largest broadcasting companies against one another in a boardroom bidding war that is expected to start at $1 billion, per FOS. Netflix, which currently holds the exclusive U.S. and Canada broadcasting rights to the upcoming women’s 2027 and 2031 World Cups, is making it known it’s coming after the 2030 men’s games as well. “It’s the perfect type of sporting event that would interest Netflix,” former ESPN anchor and new host of Netflix’s global sports coverage Elle Duncan told FOS this weekend. “Despite what someone may believe, Netflix isn’t laying around waiting for scraps from other legacy broadcasters who don’t want things any more. They are only going to these leagues like, ‘We want things that can be major, that feel special and that are different.’ And the World Cup is exactly like that. “Netflix is famously global, 330 million households across the world. World Cup is a global event. It’s a special event that lasts for one month that captures everyone’s attention. It’s why they were so interested in getting the women’s World Cup.” FOX, which has hosted the last three men’s FIFA World Cups including this year’s 2026 games to much acclaim, is “absolutely” eager to make it four-in-a-row in 2030, FOX Sports president Brad Zager told Sports Business Journal earlier this weekend. The 2026 games have been a financial and viewership boon for FOX, with the network averaging 7.128 million viewers over the 100-plus matches aired across FOX, FS1 and Tubi through this weekend’s semifinal between Spain and France, per SBJ, an nearly 120% jump from the 2022 World Cup four years ago. “We’re looking forward to those conversations when they begin,” Zager told SBJ. “We’re really proud of the relationship that we’ve had with FIFA. Not just because of the relationship with FIFA, but because of the product we have put on the air with the men’s and women’s World Cup.” Meanwhile, ESPN isn’t going down without a fight, with ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro confirming Disney plans to be “hyper-competitive” when the men’s 2030 FIFA World Cup bidding begins later this year. ESPN held the World Cup’s exclusive media rights between 2004-14. “We had the World Cup for two decades and it was a big part of ESPN’s identity and DNA,” Pitaro said during a CNBC and Boardroom-hosted conference Thursday at Fanatics Fest in New York, per Deadline. “Of course we’re interested.” With the bidding expected to begin at $1 billion — a significant jump from the reported $485 million FOX paid for the 2026 World Cup games — some experts believe the price tag could climb to as much as $3 billion, especially if FIFA packages its English and Spanish language media rights together for the 2020 and 2034 games, according to Front Office Sports.