According to The Wall Street Journal, Netflix’s efforts to add live sports to its service have increased. According to The Wall Street Journal, sources familiar with the matter said that Netflix had made a bid for the rights to watch the ATP tennis circuit in various European nations, including the United Kingdom and France, but had since withdrawn its offer.
It’s probable that the high price of such rights caused Netflix to withdraw from the competition. Since CEO Reed Hastings has stated that Netflix does not want to get into bidding wars every few years and could look to buy stakes in sports leagues, the Journal notes that Netflix (NFLX), which had 223.1M subscribers as of the end of the third quarter, may look to other less prominent sports such as surfing.
Not that Netflix is giving up on live sports streaming altogether. According to The Wall Street Journal, Netflix has contemplated submitting bids for a variety of events, including the Women’s Tennis Association and cycling races in the United Kingdom.
There were rumors late last year that Netflix considered buying the World Surf League, but the talks broke down due to financial differences.
In midday trade, Netflix (NFLX) shares jumped over 2% to $263.90.
Even while Netflix has been reluctant to embrace live sports programming in the past, the streaming service has recently introduced sports-themed shows and documentaries including the 1998 Chicago Bulls documentary series The Last Dance and the racing-themed documentary Formula 1: Drive to Survive.
Netflix, headquartered in Los Gatos, California, competed with ESPN for the rights to stream Formula One in the United States but ultimately came up short.
Amazon, for example, has secured the rights to broadcast Thursday Night Football from the National Football League, while Apple has signed arrangements with MLB and MLS in an effort to increase subscribers and viewership.
In a move that was announced around the end of the month, Netflix and Walmart have expanded their partnership to include the sale of items based on their streaming shows in Walmart shops across the United States.