Netflix, Disney and YouTube are preparing to bid

With the FIFA World Cup attracting huge audiences worldwide, media companies are preparing to pay billions for the rights to the next two men’s tournaments.

netflix, Disney and alphabet YouTubers are all about the challenge Fox to acquire U.S. broadcast rights to the 2030 and 2034 World Cups, according to people familiar with the matter.

Amazonwhich currently holds the UEFA Champions League rights in the United Kingdom, and apple, which owns global MLS rights, could also enter the mix, further fueling a potential bidding war for the rights.

Discussions between FIFA and potential media partners are expected to begin sometime in the next three months, according to people familiar with the matter, who requested anonymity because the conversations are private.

FIFA alerted media companies during preliminary talks, which began earlier this year, that the US rights to English and Spanish would likely be sold together, rather than separately as has been done at previous World Cups, including in 2026, the sources said.

Fox paid $485 million for the English rights to this year’s tournament, which was hosted by North American cities, according to The Athletic. NBCUniversal’s Telemundo paid $600 million for the Spanish-language rights, according to people familiar with the matter.

Executives at various media companies are budgeting between $1.5 billion and $2 billion to acquire the U.S. rights to each tournament across languages, the people said. The last time FIFA negotiated a deal with Fox and Telemundo was in 2011. Four years later, FIFA extended that agreement until 2026.

FIFA will not sell global rights to the tournament, because different countries have regulations stipulating that the World Cup must be sold over the air. But US rights would be desirable, with a large number of viewers and advertising opportunities.

Netflix, Disney and YouTube all see the World Cup as a potential big boost for their streaming services, according to people familiar with the matter.

Disney could also broadcast matches on ESPN and ABC, which could be attractive to FIFA as broadcasts on Fox have seen strong ratings this year. FIFA has already shown interest in Netflix by awarding it the Women’s World Cup in 2027 and 2031.

Spokespeople for FIFA, Netflix, YouTube and Disney declined to comment.

Selling the English and Spanish rights as a package could help FIFA command a higher price, leading to increased offers from eager media partners looking for big ratings. The combined TV audiences for American games have competed in recent weeks with NFL playoff games.

Language rights packaging could also help remove some of the tensions between competing media companies broadcasting the same games.

Although Telemundo bought the Spanish-only rights until 2026, it claimed that some unknown English-speaking population was watching the matches in the US via the streaming service Peacock, which weakened Fox’s access to the World Cup.

Peacock charges just $10.99 per month, while Fox’s streaming service, Fox One, costs $19.99 per month.

Telemundo also hired actor Owen Wilson, who is not Latino or known to speak Spanish, as a spokesman for the Spanish-language coverage of the World Cup, blurring the lines for an American audience that speaks both English and Spanish.

If the English and Spanish-language games are sold together, NBCUniversal is unlikely to compete for the rights at a price approaching $2 billion, according to people familiar with the matter. This would remove Telemundo as a future partner.

Comcast It announced last month that it intends to spin off NBCUniversal, increasing investors’ focus on its future finances. NBCU already pays billions annually for “Sunday Night Football” and NFL basketball. An NBC spokesperson declined to comment.

Both the 2030 and 2034 World Cups are in time zones that are less attractive to American television viewers than this year’s World Cup, which is being held in the United States, Mexico and Canada.

The 2030 World Cup will be held in Morocco, Portugal and Spain, which have a five or six hour time difference with the US Eastern time zone. Saudi Arabia will host the 2034 World Cup, where the time difference is even more dramatic.

However, huge valuations for this year’s World Cup are likely to send prices skyrocketing.

The United States’ victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina last week was the most-watched soccer match in English history, averaging more than 26 million viewers, according to Fox Sports.

9.8 million viewers watched the last game on either Telemundo or Peacock.

Monday night’s match between the United States and Belgium is likely to score higher ratings. While Nielsen ratings have not been released, the US-Belgium match in English and Spanish averaged 47.9 million viewers, according to AdImpact estimates.

Even the non-US games attracted large crowds. More than 11 million viewers watched the Portugal vs. Croatia match on Fox, making it the most watched non-final match in US history not involving the American team.