FIFA and UK broadcasters BBC and ITV Plc are inching closer to a deal that would see them pay an estimated $9-10 million for the rights to show the women’s football World Cup, an amount that would still represent only 5% to 6% of the amount paid for the men’s version of the tournament.
Nothing has yet been signed but both sides are zeroing in on a deal that could pave the way for agreement with other broadcasters to avoid a media blackout of the tournament in Europe’s top footballing nations, according to people familiar with the talks. The combined cost for the BBC and ITV was close to $200 million for the UK rights to the men’s 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
A spokesman for FIFA declined to comment, as did representatives for ITV and the BBC.
While the amounts paid by the UK for the 2023 tournament are small, they are at a premium to offers made by some European broadcasters earlier this year which FIFA President Gianni Infantino called insulting to the women’s game. Bids, understood to have been as low as 1 or 2% of the deal for the rights to the men’s tournament, were “a slap in the face” given the growth of the women’s game, he said.
Read more: FIFA Urged to Avoid Women’s World Cup Blackout
The 2019 women’s World Cup final was watched live by more than 260 million people, and 1.1 billion fans tuned in during the tournament, according to FIFA. The month-long women’s World Cup kicks off on July 20 with co-host New Zealand taking on Norway in Auckland. Joint host Australia plays the Republic of Ireland in Sydney later that day.
In the last four-year World Cup cycle encompassing the men’s and women’s tournaments, Europe accounted for $1.06 billion in TV broadcasting rights. FIFA, football’s governing body, doesn’t break down those figures but decided for the first time to negotiate the rights for the women’s 2023 tournament separately.
Public Appeal
With barely a month to go, governments across Europe are anxious. In late May they issued an appeal to FIFA and national broadcasters to reach an agreement for the good of promoting women’s football. While acknowledging that public broadcasters had “limited financial resources,” the sports ministers of the Big Five — Italy, Germany, France, UK and Spain — urged “all parties involved to quickly reach an agreement.”
Other deals are falling into place. Anheuser-Busch InBev will sponsor the women’s 2023 World Cup in a nod to one of football’s fastest-growing areas, and extend its deal with the men’s tournament months after beer sales at the World Cup in Qatar were restricted.
(Updates with Anheuser-Busch In Bev sponsorship in last paragraph)