With just 35 days to go until kick-off, FIFA has reached a deal with broadcasters in the UK and across Europe over the rights to broadcast this summer’s FIFA Women’s World Cup.
The European Broadcasting Union has extended its existing media rights partnership to cover the tournament, which will be broadcast on the EBU’s free-to-air linear TV network across 34 European territories.
It means matches will now be broadcast in the “big five” European markets following fears of a tournament blackout in Europe. The deal will see the World Cup broadcast by ARD/ZDF (Germany), BBC/ITV (UK), France Télévisions, RAI (Italy) and RTVE (Spain).
“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 director general Noel Curran added: “We are delighted to have been able to build on our long-term and successful relationship with FIFA to secure the rights on behalf of Europe’s biggest public-service broadcasters. 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. We see women’s football as being central to our content strategy and one of the cornerstones of the new digital platform we hope to launch next year.”
In the UK, a total of 64 matches will be shown by either the BBC or ITV, with both channels broadcasting the final.
