How Netflix Is Playing the Sporting Rights Game to Win, by Playing It Differently
Key Points
Sports broadcasting rights are lucrative but come at a hefty cost.
Netflix is focusing on strategic events for maximizing exposure at a lower total spend.
The strategy could help drive profitable growth as ad-supported memberships grow.
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Streaming has been taking market share from traditional cable television for years now, a trend that's made Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) one of the world's largest media companies. Live sports are one of the last bastions of traditional television.
But that, too, is slowly changing as streaming services continue to bid for broadcasting rights. Of the top 100 most-watched shows in 2025, 96 were sports events. As sports continue to dominate the screen, the price tags for those rights keep soaring.
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Netflix continues to push into live sports but isn't following the same playbook as the legacy networks. Here's why Netflix's strategy is likely to pay off.
Image source: Netflix.
Quality over quantity is the key
Since networks depend so heavily on sports for viewership, they often bid for as much of it as possible. The National Football League is a prime example. Networks each spend around $2.1 billion to $2.7 billion annually for rights to broadcast weekly games throughout the season.
However, Netflix struck a much smaller deal with the league in 2024, reportedly paying an estimated $75 million per game for exclusive rights to broadcast games on Christmas Day. That's not cheap, but it's a much lower all-in spend. Netflix has taken a similar approach with other sports content, including exclusive rights to:
- Major League Baseball: Opening Day, Home Run Derby, and Field of Dreams game for the 2026 season.
- FIFA Women's World Cup in 2027 and 2031.
Netflix, which has traditionally made money from subscriptions rather than advertising, doesn't need every game to benefit from the gravity of live sports. That said, Netflix's ad-supported memberships have become a growth engine, and the beauty of its strategy is that it can scale its spending as it sees fit. For instance, it committed $5 billion over 10 years to broadcast World Wrestling Entertainment's RAW programming on Monday nights.
Making Netflix a better business
As Netflix continues to grow its subscriber base, expand into sports, and pull new monetization levers, it is becoming a stronger company. Netflix's return on invested capital has soared over the past several years, to over 25%.
NFLX Return on Invested Capital data by YCharts
Meanwhile, Wall Street analysts still see robust earnings growth ahead, calling for long-term annualized growth of 22%. That makes Netflix stock a table-pounding buy at its current valuation, trading at 31 times its 2026 earnings estimates.
Netflix has already proven itself a winner over the past couple of decades. A prudent, yet scalable, sports strategy can help Netflix stock remain a winner for years to come.
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Justin Pope has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Netflix. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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