The showdown drags on and now turns into a war of nerves. Discussions between the International Football Federation (FIFA) and the television channels of several European countries are still skating, sixty days before the Women’s World Cup, scheduled for July 20 to August 20, in Australia and New Zealand. . Never seen. As it stands, the financial agreement for France has not yet been found, with everyone sticking to their positions. According to our information, the proposals from the channels fluctuate between two and four million euros, while FIFA still hopes to obtain between eight and ten million euros.
At the beginning of May, its president, Gianni Infantino, judged on Instagram offers “very disappointing and simply unacceptable”speaking of “slap in the face to all the great players and all the women in the world”, while an agreement has already been signed in 155 countries. The body argues that all broadcasting rights will be donated to the development of women’s football. The pressure has gone up a notch since the Italian-Swiss leader raised the threat of a lack of broadcast in the Big Five (United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, Italy and France), even if a consensus is still hoped for before the beginning of July at the latest. Afterwards, it will be too late for the chains, which must organize their system.
Potential broadcasters criticize the “overvaluation” rights to a 2023 edition much less favorable than the previous one, which took place in France in 2019. Later in the calendar, the latter falls in a low period in terms of advertising. Added to this is the time difference (eight hours with Australia and ten hours with New Zealand) annoying the European channels, the matches of the Blue taking place at 10 am or noon, Paris time. With smaller audiences, advertisements will be much less profitable.
“Market aware”
The broadcasters received the support of the coach of Les Bleues, Hervé Renard, who criticized, on Sunday May 14, a FIFA “too demanding in terms of rights”. Nicolas de Tavernost, the chairman of the management board of the M6 group, hastened to share the sequence on Twitter. “M6 reiterates its desire to broadcast the Women’s Football World Cup at a consistent price”he pleaded. “There are still sports players who are aware of the market”, added Florent Houzot, director of the antennas of the pay channel BeIN Sports, also in the ranks, like TF1, historic broadcaster of the Blues.
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