My First World Cup: How splitting from men’s broadcast deal has created potential TV blackout
With more than one billion people watching the last Women’s World Cup in France in 2019, viewing figures were once again expected to be healthy at this year’s tournament in Australia and New Zealand despite differences in time zones impacting European audiences.
Sky reported at the beginning of May that a 2020 bid evaluation document for the prospective tournament deemed it “low risk” commercially due to strong TV potential in Asian markets. Yet, with just five weeks until the tournament begins, there is doubt that viewers in some countries will be able to watch this World Cup at all, let alone decide whether or not they want to tune in for early morning kick-offs.
This is the first Women’s World Cup where broadcasting rights have been sold separately to the men’s tournament. It is an understandable move by FIFA to sell the rights on their own given domestic leagues such as the Women’s Super League in England have experienced rapid growth in recent years, bringing in record attendances alongside impressive viewing figures. The women’s game has more than earned the right to be understood, and therefore marketed, as its own entity.
However, FIFA president Gianni Infantino has said that current offers from broadcasters for the rights to show the upcoming tournament represent a “slap in the face” for players and “all women worldwide”. He suggests that broadcasters have offered between $1m and $10m for the rights compared with $100m to $200m to show the last men’s World Cup in Qatar.
As things stand, there is currently no deal in place to broadcast games in the UK, Spain, Germany, Italy, France and Japan. Whilst it has been suggested that ITV and the BBC are close to agreeing a deal to allow UK viewers to watch games, the current bid from Italy is reportedly not even worth one per cent of what they paid to broadcast Qatar 2022 – a tournament the national team did not qualify for.
A 2018 Women in Sport research report found that media exposure to women’s sport provides a number of benefits including challenging gender stereotypes, encouraging participation in active lifestyles and providing positive female role models. It is clear that broadcasting this World Cup will likely have benefits that go beyond providing entertainment.
Last week, UK, French, German, Spanish and Italian governments issued a joint statement expressing “concern” that the situation had not yet been resolved with just 50 days to go until the tournament begins. The promise of these national governments to “mobilise” relevant stakeholders to ensure an agreement is reached between FIFA and broadcasters to “quickly reach an agreement” is yet to provide a solution.
Whilst FIFA and Infantino have been regular targets for criticism since the 53-year-old assumed the presidency in 2016, the onus now appears to be on broadcasters to prove that they value women’s football in terms of cold, hard cash and not just in the way of platitudes and marketing spin.
