KEIR RADNEDGE REPORTS: The squabble over European broadcasting rights to the forthcoming Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand has been resolved but without FIFA apparently squeezing any more money out of the staging.

This cup is the first which has been marketed independently. Previously rights to the finals had been bundled in with contracts for the men’s World Cup.

The 2023 Women’s World Cup is the first to be held in the southern hemisphere and hosted in the Asia-Pacific region. It will feature 32 teams, eight more than in 2019, kicks off on July 20 and ends with the final in Sydney on August 20.

In May the world federation’s president Gianni Infantino threatened a blackout in major European territories unless TV companies improved their offers. He was particularly critical of the UK, Spain, Italy, Germany and France, described their reluctance to ramp up the cash as a “slap in the face” of the players and “all women worldwide.”

At that point Infantino said European broadcasters had offered between $1m and $10m, compared with $100m-$200m for the men’s World Cup.

Since then it appears that FIFA has had the facts of TV ratings life explained: the staging of the tournament in the southern hemisphere means most matches being screened live in the off-peak European morning.

A FIFA statement confirmed a deal with the European Broadcasting Union makes no mention of more money, only an agreement for broader and wider coverage of the women’s game in general.

FIFA said:

FIFA and the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) have agreed to extend their existing media rights partnership, ensuring that the upcoming FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023™ will be broadcast on the EBU’s free-to-air linear TV network across 34 European territories, whilst also making a substantial additional commitment to the regular transmission of women’s football content beyond the tournament.

The memorandum of understanding follows initial discussions held at the Home of FIFA last month involving FIFA President Gianni Infantino, FIFA Chief Business Officer Romy Gai and representatives of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), led by Director General Noel Curran, and the rights include broadcast across TV, digital and radio in a new arrangement that will also see the EBU provide more promotion to women’s football than ever before, thus helping to further grow the sport.

In October 2022, the two parties had announced an initial deal confirming that the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023™ would be broadcast free-to-air across 28 European territories, but under this revised agreement, major European broadcast markets have been added, together with Ukraine.

“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.

“As part of this agreement, the EBU has committed to working towards broadcasting at least one hour of weekly content dedicated to women’s football on its own digital platform and broadcaster network. This will provide a huge promotional and exposure opportunity for women’s football, which is a top priority for us in line with FIFA’s commitment to the long-term development of the sport.”

EBU Members, including ARD/ZDF (Germany), BBC/ITV (UK), France Télévisions, RAI (Italy) and RTVE (Spain), will also undertake to help market the tournament across all their channels as part of the EBU’s long-term strategy to promote the growth of women’s football in Europe and beyond. In Ukraine, the tournament will be shown by EBU Member, UAPBC.

The new agreement continues the success story and legacy that was established with the FIFA-EBU partnership to broadcast the FIFA Women’s World Cup France 2019™, where EBU Members reported record audience figures as coverage of this event signalled a landmark moment for women’s sport.

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