June 15 – After a lengthy standoff, FIFA has struck a deal with the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) to televise the Women’s World Cup, avoiding a controversial blackout in the ‘Big Five’ European nations.
The deal, announced just five weeks before kick off, follows a period of brinkmanship between FIFA and broadcasters in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom over the rights for the competition in Australia and New Zealand in July and August.
FIFA president Gianni 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. Infantino said Europe’s major broadcasters who pretty much underpin the men’s World Cup, had initially offered between $1-10 million for the rights for this year’s tournament. For the men’s World Cup they pay between $100 million-$200 million each.
No value has been given for the EBU deal but it certainly won’t be anywhere near the value FIFA was hoping to achieve from the biggest of Europe’s broadcast buyers.
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 European continent, but Infantino said that was no excuse.
Another issue was that FIFA went to market very late with the rights, after broadcasters had agreed acquisition budgets, and demanding a price hike without any informed or meaningful discussion with the buyers. The clear message from the broadcasters is that would not be treated like FIFA’s piggy bank and that they also had public responsibilities to fufill.
The danger for FIFA was that in the biggest European markets the Women’s World Cup was not going to be broadcast to national audiences with all the extra programming and promotion that comes with it. That would have become a major issue for FIFA’s global sponsors who justify their premium sponsorship buys on the exposure they get and that FIFA cannot give them on their own.
That problem has now been averted and everything in the FIFA broadcast garden is rosy again, for the moment at least.
“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,” Infantino said of the agreement.
EBU director general Noel Curran commented: “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,”
German FA boss Bernd Neuendorf declared in a statement that he was “delighted” to be “avoiding a blackout” and have a deal that would be “of enormous importance for the further development of women’s football in Germany”.
All 64 matches from the tournament will be broadcast in the UK on either the BBC or ITV, except for the final which will be shown across both channels.
Barbara Slater, director of BBC Sport, said: “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.”
Peace in our time? The bigger picture is now what happens with the 2030 Women’s World Cup rights. The location of that tournament is still to be decided but if FIFA’s primary consideration is money (and it is an organisation that still, and too often, puts money and its politics before the game), then that World Cup will need to be hosted in the US or Europe.
With the deal just announced between Concacaf and FIFA for the joint selling of rights for their major events through to 2026, the smart money would be on the US to be the next host.
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