The threat of the black screen lifted on Wednesday with the announcement of an agreement to co-broadcast the Women’s World Cup in France, on France Télévisions and the M6 group, just over a month before the coup. sending the event to Australia and New Zealand (July 20-August 20). The two audiovisual groups take over from TF1 and Canal, broadcasters of the 2019 World Cup at home, after an extended sequence of negotiations, hampered by the financial ambitions deemed too high by Fifa, organizer of the tournament.
The French Football Federation can breathe, its Bleues will be well on the small screen from July 23 for their entry into the running against Jamaica, in Sydney, at the end of the morning (11:30 a.m. Paris time). “France Télévisions is very pleased to announce the acquisition with the M6 group of the broadcasting rights for the FIFA World Cup 2023 and the matches of the French women’s football team until 2027”, announced the public television group in a statement.
At the same time, Fifa has announced that the competition will be visible in the clear in 34 countries in Europe, including Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom, the other four major European countries in women’s football. over which the threat of a blackout hovered, as in France. The battle for television rights raged for several months between Gianni Infantino’s Fifa, determined not to sell off its flagship women’s competition, and European broadcasters, cooled by the sums requested, far too high according to them.
At the beginning of May, the Italian leader had vigorously opposed the offers of broadcasters, in particular European ones, deemed “always very disappointing and quite simply unacceptable”. However, he continued, “we have a moral and legal obligation not to underestimate the value of the Women’s World Cup”.
In the middle, several players had expressed regret, even incomprehension, as the soap opera stretched. “That’s Fifa’s business. She is the best person to talk about it. I often heard the president say that it was not enough financially. But is it really always about the money? Wondered OL’s Norwegian star Ada Hegerberg, the first winner of the Women’s Golden Ball in 2018.
Several calls for tenders had failed as the gap between the two camps was great. Fifa, summed up a potential broadcaster, interviewed by AFP, “is asking a lot of money for something that won’t get a lot of audience”. This lack of enthusiasm was above all due to the geographical area of the competition, organized for the first time in Oceania, and therefore to the time difference which cooled European broadcasters.
For example, the second and third matches of the French team in the group stage will start at noon, while the semi-finals and the final will be scheduled between 10 a.m. and noon Paris time. Another concern for broadcasters is that the competition is being held in the height of summer, later than usual, during a slow period in terms of advertising revenue.
The final of Euro 2022, last summer in England, took place on July 31, three weeks earlier than the final of the World Cup to come. “We have a good product, the finest in women’s sport. Everyone talks about equality, parity. We would like these words to turn into actions, “said FIFA Secretary General Fatma Samoura on May 21 in an interview with AFP. It will have taken many more weeks to see the situation settle.
France Télévisions and the M6 group are taking a step closer to women’s football after recently acquiring the broadcasting rights of the France team for the next four seasons (2023-2027). The agreement, announced on June 13, notably includes the new League of Nations, qualifications for Euro 2025 and the 2027 World Cup.
Les Bleues by Hervé Renard will also be broadcast by the France Télévisions group during the 2024 Olympic Games, for which they are automatically qualified as host country.