Netflix considering investing in sports leagues, bidding for event streaming rights

According to the Wall Street Journal, people familiar with the matter said that Netflix is ​​actively considering offering live sports on its platform, provided that it does not cost too much.

Netflix recently bid for the streaming rights of the men’s Professional Tennis Association (ATP) on some European national tennis tours, including in France and the United Kingdom, but eventually dropped the bid, one of the people said.

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Meanwhile, Netflix has discussed bidding for a range of other events, including the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) and cycling rights in the UK.

In addition, Netflix executives have discussed buying lesser-known sports leagues to avoid rising bidding costs for sports rights, people familiar with the matter said.

Late last year, Netflix held talks to buy the World Surf League, but the talks broke down because the two sides could not agree on a price. Financial data showed that Netflix’s revenue in the third quarter was $7.926 billion, a year-on-year increase of 5.9%; net profit was $1.398 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 3.5%.

The total number of paying subscribers to Netflix’s global streaming service reached 223.09 million in the third quarter, an increase of 4.5% year over year.