Netflix more and more considering reside sports activities, bid for ATP tennis tour: report

Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) has proven a rise in bringing reside sports activities to its platform, The Wall Road Journal reported.

The information outlet, based on folks accustomed to the discussions, famous that the streaming big has not too long ago bid on the streaming rights for the ATP tennis tour for some European nations, together with the U.Ok. and France, however dropped out.

It additionally has mentioned bidding on different occasions, together with the U.Ok. rights to the Girls’s Tennis Affiliation and biking competitions, the folks added.

It is doable that Netflix (NFLX) dropped out of the bidding as a result of prices of such rights. The Journal added that Netflix (NFLX), which had 223.1M subscribers as of the tip of the third-quarter, may look to different lower-profile sports activities similar to browsing, as CEO Reed Hastings has stated the corporate doesn’t wish to get into bidding wars each few years and will look to purchase stakes in sports activities leagues.

The information outlet additionally famous that Netflix (NFLX) mentioned final yr shopping for the World Surf League, however talks fizzled over the value.

Netflix (NFLX) shares rose greater than 2% to $263.90 in mid-day buying and selling.

Traditionally, Netflix (NFLX) has shied away from including reside sports activities to its programming, however has not too long ago added exhibits and documentaries, together with the The Final Dance, a multi-part documentary in regards to the 1998 Chicago Bulls and racing-themed Formulation 1: Drive to Survive.

The Los Gatos, California-based Netflix (NFLX) bid on the U.S. streaming rights for Formulation One, however missed out after Disney’s (NYSE:DIS) ESPN received the public sale.

Streaming companies have more and more turned to reside sports activities in an effort to spice up subscribers and viewership, with Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) having received the rights to the Nationwide Soccer League’s Thursday Night time Soccer, whereas Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) has entered into offers with Main League Baseball and Main League Soccer.

Late final month, Netflix (NFLX) expanded its cope with Walmart (WMT) to deliver streaming-show merchandise into brick-and-mortar shops throughout the U.S.