2023-06-19 13:40:57
Eugénie Le Sommer and the captain of the French women’s football team, Wendie Renard, during the friendly match between France and Canada, April 11, 2023, at Le Mans. FRANCK FIFE / AFP
We will finally be able to watch the 2023 Women’s World Cup in France, but also in the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy and Spain. In the five major economies of European football, negotiations stumbled between broadcasters and the International Football Federation (FIFA), over amounts deemed insufficient by the latter.
It was about time, almost a month away from the competition, which will take place from July 20 to August 20 in Australia and New Zealand. A location that was one of the dissuasive factors for televisions, due to a time difference that was unfavorable to programming.
In France, TF1, BeIN Sports and Canal+ have therefore been supplanted by France Télévisions and W9 (M6 group), and the tournament will be accessible unencrypted, as well as on the public channels of some thirty countries on the continent: this is with the European Broadcasting Union that FIFA has relaunched discussions, even if it means accepting a financial compromise.
Exposure Priority
FIFA’s extreme wealth made income from TV rights far less of a priority than media exposure. We measure the economic gap with men’s football by comparing the annual rights of the French championships: 620 million euros for Ligue 1, 1.2 million euros for Division 1. A L1 match alone costs more expensive than the entire D1 season… The English Women’s Super League receives 9 million euros.
Two other contracts are added to the positive signals. Division 1 has renewed its own with Canal + until 2029, upgrading to the key. As for the French team, it will be scheduled after the World Cup on France 2, France 3 and W9 until 2027 – which includes all its sporting events for five years: friendly matches, new League of Nations, qualifications for Euro 2025 and the 2027 World Cup.
These guarantees of visibility will not be sufficient. The French Football Federation (FFF) has come under severe criticism for being satisfied with the easily won laurels of the 2019 World Cup. While the number of licensees has more than doubled since 2011 (220,352 this season, 10% of the national total and 20% more than in 2018-2019, according to the FFF), human resources and infrastructure have not followed.
In February 2022, the Norwegian international of Olympique Lyonnais Ada Hegerberg reacted strongly to the announcement of the French candidacy for hosting Euro 2025 (finally obtained by Switzerland): “Organizing international competitions is good. Investing in our championship is better. We are picking up and the 2019 World Cup had no impact. »
You have 42.9% of this article left to read. The following is for subscribers only.
#delay #womens #football #cultural #sporting #economic