• The next Women's World Cup, scheduled from July 20 to August 20 in Australia and New Zealand, has so far not had a broadcaster in the main European countries, namely France, Germany, England, Spain and Italy.
  • Just two and a half months before this World Cup, Fifa President Gianni Infantino describes the offers of the "Big Five" to broadcast the competition as "very disappointing and simply unacceptable".
  • 20 Minutes decrypts why the craze is not at the rendezvous within the French television groups, while Gianni Infantino has just threatened the countries of the "Big Five" not to have a broadcast of the event this summer.

The spectacular semi-final return of the Champions League Arsenal-Wolfsburg (2-3) may have combined Monday 60,063 spectators in a sold-out Emirates Stadium and more than 1.1 million views on the free channel DAZN on YouTube, women's football is currently facing a real disappointment. Two and a half months before the start of the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, the event has still not found broadcasters in the five largest European football countries, namely France, Germany, England, Spain and Italy. Unheard of in the run-up to such a sporting event. How exactly did we arrive at such an impasse between FIFA and the main European television groups?

"Rights holders want money that TV doesn't want to give," says Pierre Maes, an international sports TV rights consultant. It is well known that TV rights are only pulled up when there is competition between the media to acquire them. This is not the case here, so these figures remain low in these five major countries, which make up the bulk of the global income of a Women's World Cup. Concretely, in France, only the M6 group confirmed Tuesday to 20 Minutes to have "formulated an offer consistent with the market, which was refused a few weeks ago" by FIFA. TF1, which had acquired the rights to the 2019 World Cup in France for about 19 million euros, while sublicensing a co-broadcast to Canal + for 8 million euros, would also be on the ranks.


"Don't undersell this Women's World Cup"

The encrypted channel, like BeIN Sports, which this season offers the semi-finals and final of the Women's France Cup, could also be a candidate. In any case, no group has met FIFA's expectations, as revealed by its president Gianni Infantino on Monday, on the occasion of Making trade score for women, a series of round tables organized at the headquarters of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Geneva (Switzerland). In a message posted on his Instagram account, he described the offers of the "Big Five" to broadcast the competition as "very disappointing and simply unacceptable". Before cracking a hell of a tackle against the European media.

In particular, public broadcasters have a duty to promote and invest in women's sport. While broadcasters pay $100 million to $200 million for the men's World Cup, they only offer $1 million to $10 million for the Women's World Cup. It's a slap in the face to all the great players and women in the world. To be very clear, it is our moral and legal obligation not to undersell this Women's World Cup. Women deserve it, it's as simple as that. »

After presenting himself as "Qatari, Arab, African, homosexual, disabled and migrant worker" at the launch of the World Cup in Qatar last November, Gianni Infantino obviously never disappoints us, this time in a role of ultimate and selfless defender of women. "The philanthropic side of Fifa, it lends itself to smiles, slips anonymously a French media manager. There, we are told of higher rates than for the 2019 World Cup, which does not correspond at all to the market. The 2019 World Cup was accompanied by a natural craze, as it was in France and evening. There, the Blues will play their group games at 12 noon, and there will also be games from 9 am. It is customary not to invest in an expensive program in the morning. »


"An extremely basic negotiating bluff"

The major brake on the enthusiasm of European channels for this Women's World Cup is in this organization in Australia and New Zealand involving a huge time difference (+ 10 hours). And what is more at a much more advanced period in the summer, from July 20 to August 20, 2023, while the competition took place from June 7 to July 7, 2019 in France. "Gianni Infantino is chasing his mistake of playing this World Cup in the other hemisphere," said Maes. It leads to absolutely catastrophic schedules, which is a solid reason why TVs do not increase their offers. There is a good chance that we are far from the level of the very good audiences of 2019, which surprised everyone. For once, a channel like TF1 had even made money with a sporting event. »

Four years after the most watched edition in history, with more than 1 billion viewers worldwide, and peaks of almost 12 million in France during the 8th final against Brazil and the quarter against the Americans, could the Women's World Cup seriously not be broadcast in France this summer? In any case, this is a hypothesis that Gianni Infantino does not exclude: "If the offers continue not to be fair for women and women's football, we will be forced not to broadcast this World Cup in the European countries of the "Big 5"". Pierre Maes does not believe in this outcome at all.

It's an extremely basic TV rights negotiation bluff. There is a 0.1% chance of that happening. Broadcasters are not impressed. They are alone and they are on velvet for this tug-of-war. The balance of power is not at all to FIFA's advantage. »

A "prize money" tripled by FIFA

The author last year of La Ruine du football français cites the recent example of the Men's France Cup, whose very late allocation of rights to BeIN Sports was made at an amount that has "severely fallen". "It is up to FIFA to ask questions, when we see that without consulting each other, the channels of five major European countries have made proposals far from its expectations... ", adds our interlocutor in a television media. "Infantino explains that in addition, FIFA has already tripled the prize money of this Women's World Cup (€138 million), without having the money of the broadcasters, which is another mistake," said Pierre Maes. There is still a difference of nearly 100 million euros compared to 2019 to find, and therefore 20 million euros of TV rights to obtain from each member of the European "Big Five", here is Infantino's business plan. »



Amounts very far from the 8.1 million euros per year (until 2024) invested by the Sky channel to broadcast the English championship, and the 7.2 million euros that the streaming platform DAZN pays each season to UEFA (until 2025) to broadcast the Champions League on YouTube. Even the Hervé Renard effect, which contributed to reaching last month a record audience for a friendly match of Les Bleues against Canada (1.4 million viewers on W9), should not allow the Italian-Swiss "vigilante" to win his case. We can only advise you to prepare your morning popcorn for Gianni Infantino's keynote speech on July 19 in Sydney.

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