(Yicai) May 28 -- RedNote, the Chinese-owned lifestyle app favored by affluent young women, has struck a deal to stream the 2026 FIFA World Cup in a move seen as intended to broaden its appeal to more men and lift its daily active user count.

RedNote, known inside China as Xiaohongshu, signed the agreement with China Media Group yesterday.

Under the deal, RedNote will be able to stream all 104 matches of the World Cup from the three host countries of the United States, Canada, and Mexico, while also offering replays and short-video highlights. Users will be able to watch on the app, on the website, and via mobile screen casting.

Ye Heng, head of community at Shanghai-based RedNote, described the live and on-demand rights as “an invitation” to football and sports enthusiasts.

In China, World Cup broadcasting rights are bought from FIFA by state-run CMG, which then sub-licenses them to new media platforms, with the pricing usually kept private.

RedNote did not reveal how much it paid, saying only that the fee was no higher than for similar World Cup deals in the past. Media reports around the 2022 tournament in Qatar said Migu and Douyin, the original Chinese version of TikTok, each paid more than CNY1 billion (USD147 million) for the rights.

CMG refused to pay the USD250 million to USD300 million that FIFA asked for, so it was reportedly dropped to USD60 million. For the 2018 and 2022 World Cup events, CMG was said to have paid between USD300 million and USD400 million.

RedNote is betting that World Cup coverage will help it pull in more soccer fans, who are predominantly men, and push its number of daily active users toward the 200 million mark, according to a livestream industry insider.

The platform needs a high-profile event such as the World Cup to increase its DAU and improve its user mix by raising the share of male users, the person said. But it remains to be seen whether newly registered users will remain after the World Cup ends, as sports content is not a major interest of RedNote’s core user base, he added.

RedNote has more than 400 million monthly active users and 170 million DAUs, with women making up a larger share than men.

During the World Cup, RedNote will add a dedicated chat column and bring in well-known soccer figures in China to provide commentary on matches from the group stage to the final. It will also add match prediction tools, fan cards, and fan communities, while opening up brand partnership slots inside livestream rooms.

Though this will be RedNote’s first World Cup livestream, the app has already been building out its football coverage. At the 2022 Qatar World Cup, it signed coaches Diego Simeone, José Mourinho, and Zinedine Zidane for match reviews and predictions. Last year, it livestreamed the German Super Cup and became the official broadcaster of the German league.

Official data from RedNote shows it already has more than 100 million users interested in soccer, and soccer-related content engagement on the platform more than doubled over the past year.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Futura Costaglione