FIFA finalize deal to air the 2023 Women's World Cup across Europe and the United Kingdom
The deal comes just five weeks before the competition begins
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1 min read
FIFA has finalized a deal with the European Broadcasting Union to broadcast the Women's World Cup in Europe and the United Kingdom. The BBC and ITV will broadcast the 2023 Women's World Cup in the U.K. The announcement comes just five weeks before the competition kicks off on July 20 in Australia and New Zealand. Last month, FIFA President Gianni Infantino threatened a broadcast "blackout" across countries in Europe, unless broadcasters raised their bids for the rights.
The rights were being sold separately from the men's World Cup for the first time, and Infantino referred to initial bids as "unacceptable." He also said broadcasters had offers of $1 to $10 million for the rights to this year's competition. The men's World Cup has previously received offers of $100 to $200 million for broadcast rights.
"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,"
According to a FIFA audit of the women's tournament, over 1 billion viewers tuned into the 2019 World Cup in France. The new deal to broadcast the 2023 World Cup across the UK comes nearly a year after England claimed the 2022 Euro title. Several European nations competing in the upcoming World Cup are among FIFA's top ten ranked teams, including England, France Germany, and Spain among them.
"We have shown every Women's World Cup on the BBC since 1999 and we are happy to extend our partnership with FIFA for the upcoming tournament, said Barbara Slater, director of BBC Sport.
"The growth of the women's game is extraordinary, demonstrated by the 28 million who watched BBC coverage of the 2019 Women's World Cup and the huge audience of 17.4 million who watched our coverage of the Euro 2022 final last summer on TV."
The 2023 Women's World Cup will begin on July 20 when co-hosts New Zealand hosts Norway, and Australia face Ireland.
