The FIFA Women‘s World Cup being played in Australia and New Zealand could now be seen by more than one billion people after a European TV blackout was avoided by a new deal.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino said last month that countries including Britain, France, Germany and Italy would not get TV coverage unless “unacceptable” bids were improved.
But amid fears viewers in those countries would miss out, an agreement has been reached that will ensure “maximum exposure” for the tournament that begins in July.
“FIFA is delighted to widen the deal with the European Broadcasting Union for the transmission of the upcoming FIFA Women‘s World Cup … thus ensuring maximum exposure for the tournament,” Infantino said in a statement on Wednesday.
“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 dedication to the long-term improvement of the game.”
Last October, FIFA and the EBU, which represents Europe’s nationwide media organisations, introduced an preliminary deal confirming that the World Cup can be broadcast free to air throughout 28 European territories.
But it didn’t embody the key markets, a difficulty that has lastly been addressed.
More than 1.12 billion viewers tuned into the 2019 Women‘s World Cup in France across all platforms and that looms as a minimum target for the upcoming event.
The new deal comes after broadcasters initially offered between $1.5m and $15m for the rights for this year‘s tournament in Australia and New Zealand compared with up to $294m for the men’s World Cup.
Source: www.news.com.au
