The International Football Federation on Wednesday announced it had struck a deal with the European Broadcasting Union to televise the 2023 Women’s World Cup, avoiding a controversial blackout in the “Big Five” European nations.
The deal follows a standoff between the governing body of world football and broadcasters in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom over the rights for the competition in Australia and New Zealand set from 20 July to 20 August.
“FIFA is delighted to widen the deal with the European Broadcasting Union for the transmission of the upcoming FIFA Women’s World Cup to include the five major markets within their existing networks, namely France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom, as well as Ukraine, thus ensuring maximum exposure for the tournament,” said FIFA president Gianni Infantino on the football body’s website.
No financial details of the deal were announced.
On the contrary, nobody from the Philippines has made a broadcast bid with less than a month before the Filipinas plunge into the Women’s World Cup action.
In a previous report, Philippine Football Federation president Mariano “Nonong” Araneta rued the lack of interest from local broadcasters, saying that the Philippines will be among the very few countries who will not beam the action live from Australia and New Zealand.
“We’re one of the countries that has yet to have broadcast rights,” said Araneta, adding that the local football federation doesn’t have a say because broadcasters have to deal directly with FIFA.
“But we can tell FIFA to maybe negotiate a lower price for the Philippines.”
Infantino had been critical of broadcasters in the “Big Five” European countries for offering substantially less than the amount paid to show the men’s World Cup.
‘We’re one of the countries that has yet to have broadcast rights.’
One stumbling block in Europe was the time difference, which means that games will often be played in what is the early morning on the continent, but Infantino said that was no excuse.
Last October, FIFA and EBU struck a deal for 28 countries. The expanded 34-nation list omitted the names of several European nations competing at the World Cup: Sweden, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands and Portugal.
The deal with the EBU involved networks that broadcast free-to-air rather than subscription channels.
FIFA listed ARD and ZDF in Germany, BBC and ITV in the UK, France Televisions, RAI in Italy and RTVE in Spain. In France M6, which is not part of the EBU, was also announced as a broadcaster.
“The FIFA Women’s World Cup is one of sport’s most exciting and fastest-growing events and we are committed to working hand-in-hand with FIFA to ensure the women’s game is enjoyed by as many people as possible across the continent,” EBU director general Noel Curran said.
The Women’s World Cup will see overall prize money for participating teams increased to $150 million, up sharply from $50 million in 2019 and a huge rise on the $15 million in 2015.
The figure still pales in comparison to the $440 million prize money at the 32-team 2022 men’s World Cup.
“We have a good product, the very best of women’s sport,” FIFA secretary general Fatma Samoura told AFP last month.
“Everyone is talking about equality. We would like these words to be transformed into actions. The simplest action is to value the World Cup at a fair price. That is all we are asking for.”
