The general secretary of FIFA, Fatma Samouraconfident that the threat of a blackout on the television of the governing world Women’s World Cup in Europe this summer will bring TV broadcasters to the table with better offers for rights. The rights are being sold separately from the men’s World Cup for the first time and the FIFA president, Gianni Infantinosaid last week that Britain, Spain, France, Germany and Italy faced blackouts unless “unacceptable” offers were improved.
“Those who bought the rights (to the last World Cup) at that time in Europe know how big it is, because we reached record numbers for many games,” Samoura told Fox Sports News of Australia on Saturday. “Now, we just ask you to check the numbers and the discussion will continue. I am sure there will be an agreement. We have already received positive feedback from three of the countries with which we have opened negotiations and we still have 80 days to be first in the beginning.”
About 1.12 billion viewers tuned in to the 2019 World Cup in France across all platforms, according to a FIFA audit. Infantino said broadcasters offered just $1 million to $10 million for the rights to this year’s tournament in Australia and New Zealand, compared with $100 million to $200 million for the men’s World Cup.
Samoura said the lower offers may have been partly the result of an “unconscious bias” against women’s sport, but the enhanced offers made good financial sense. “This is an opportunity to tell the world that we all know that women’s football is the only sport in the world with unprecedented growth potential. And this should also be reflected in the commercial agreements that we sell to you, ” he added.
Source: La Verdad
I am Shawn Partain, a journalist and content creator working for the Today Times Live. I specialize in sports journalism, writing articles that cover major sporting events and news stories. With a passion for storytelling and an eye for detail, I strive to be accurate and insightful in my work.
