Netflix has held talks with former U.S. women’s national team star Megan Rapinoe to become one of the network’s studio analysts during the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Brazil next summer.
Netflix has secured the exclusive broadcast rights in the United States and Canada for the 2027 and 2031 editions of the Women’s World Cup, meaning the tournament will be broadcast exclusively via a streaming service for the first time. The American streaming service has now begun its quest to put together a headline-making roster.
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According to several sources familiar with Netflix’s plans, all of whom asked to remain anonymous to protect relationships, Rapinoe, a two-time World Cup winner and arguably the most talked-about U.S. player of her generation, is among Netflix’s contenders. The sources did, however, caution that a deal has not been signed and that conversations remain exploratory while Netflix remains in talks with other candidates.
Netflix has also held early-stage conversations with Brazilian legend Marta, but any role with Netflix is likely to be contingent on the Brazilian not playing at the tournament in her home country.
Marta, who has played for NWSL team Orlando Pride since 2017, is yet to confirm whether she will participate as a player at the tournament. She will be 41 by the time of the World Cup next summer.
Netflix declined to comment on all aspects of this report. Netflix has already started to make hires for the tournament, with announcer Andres Cantor, long associated with Telemundo, heading to Netflix to lead its Spanish-language commentary.
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The American company is also planning an offsite for the spring, likely in Mexico, where talent will be able to bond and be briefed by Netflix executives. Netflix has made clear in pitches to talent that it intends to fly and accommodate commentators and analysts in a highly professional way, while also providing security chaperones where required in Brazil.
Rapinoe would undoubtedly add stardust to the production, with Netflix eager to not only demonstrate that it can continuously produce elite-level sport across a 32-day tournament but also attract attention across social media to entice fans to the streaming platform during the World Cup.
FOX Sports invested hugely in its studio show during the men’s World Cup this past summer, hiring big-hitting names including Thierry Henry and Zlatan Ibrahimovic to spar with former USMNT international Alexi Lalas, in a line-up anchored by usual NBC Premier League host Rebecca Lowe.
Rapinoe does not have prior extensive studio experience as an analyst, representing a relative risk for both her and Netflix across a grueling tournament. Rapinoe does, however, have extensive podcasting experience and recently started a new show, entitled “Why Are You Like This?”, which is produced by Vox Media.
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It has featured Rapinoe interviewing former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick and defeated 2024 presidential candidate Kamala Harris.
Rapinoe made 203 appearances for the national team, scoring 63 goals and recording 73 assists. She is a two-time World Cup winner and two-time Olympic medalist, having secured gold for Team USA at London 2012 and then bronze in the 2020 games in Tokyo. She retired at the end of the 2023 NWSL season.
Rapinoe also made waves off the field. She is widely recognized as having advanced the cause of the LGBTQ+ community, after revealing she was gay before the 2012 Olympic Games and speaking up for transgender women competing in women’s sport.
In 2016, she was among the first white professional athletes to kneel during the national anthem in solidarity with Colin Kaepernick, while she was also among the female players who filed a gender discrimination lawsuit against U.S. Soccer in 2019, leading to an eventual landmark equal pay deal.
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She was infamously the target of U.S. president Donald Trump’s ire when the USWNT exited the World Cup in 2023, with Rapinoe missing a penalty kick in the shootout against Sweden.
Trump accused Rapinoe of being among the players who were “openly hostile” to America. “WOKE EQUALS FAILURE,” he wrote on his own social media platform Truth Social. “Nice shot, Megan. The USA is going to Hell!!! MAGA.”
Rapinoe had previously said she would not visit the Trump White House during his first term in power refused to visit the Trump White House, saying that his administration did not “feel the same way and fight for the same things we fight for.”
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
US Women’s national team, Brazil, Sports Business, Women’s Soccer, FIFA Women’s World Cup
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