Few investments in sports and women: no live TV for the women’s soccer World Cup?

Few investments in sports and women: no live TV for the women's soccer World Cup?
Few investments in sports and women: no live TV for the women's soccer World Cup?

Sport and women are still a combination in which one is afraid to invest: the live television of the women’s soccer World Cup could be skipped due to too low offers.

Is the Women’s World Cup suspended?

Effective July 1 for the 20223-2023 season, women’s football has officially turned professional. Despite the great movement (of passions, money and heads) that football as a sport moves all over the world, it turns out to be, on balance, a “great deal” dedicated only to men’s competitions. In fact, live televised coverage of the Women’s World Cup seems to be at risk of being suspended, due to the too low offer that the television broadcasters have proposed to FIFA. In addition to the importance of earnings derived from television rights, the minimum offers received represent a setback that the football association does not want to accept.

Women’s investment and sports

“Today I repeated my appeal to broadcasters to pay a fair price for the media rights of the 2023 Women’s World Cup”: says Gianni Infantino himself, president of FIFA. “The World Federation has played its part, bringing the prize pool to $152 million, tripling the amount paid in 2019 and ten times more than in 2015. However, the offers of broadcasters, mainly in the ‘Big 5’ European countries, are still very disappointing and simply not acceptable, especially considering that 100% of all rights fees paid would go directly into women’s football, in our choice to promote action towards equal conditions and equal pay.” The data, in fact, speak for themselves: the men’s soccer world cup, held in Qatar, reached offers of 200 million; those for the Women’s World Cup waiting in Australia and New Zealand, however, only 10 million.

Football and women: a recent union (official)

Respect for the female football profession also passes through not “selling out” at all costs to the highest bidder. Infantino continues: “To be very clear, it is our moral and legal obligation not to sell out the Women’s World Cup. Therefore, if the offers continue to be unfair to women and women’s football, we will be forced not to broadcast it in the ‘Big’ European countries. I therefore call on all players (women and men), fans, football officials, presidents, prime ministers, politicians and journalists around the world to join us and support this call for fair remuneration for women’s football. Women deserve it.”