Relief at last as FIFA okays 2023 World Cup broadcast deal for Germany

 

By Claas Hennig, dpa I Friday, June 16, 2023

 

BERLIN – German Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser has welcomed the agreement between football governing body FIFA and public television networks over the broadcasting rights for the 2023 women’s World Cup.

“I’m happy that the women’s World Cup is now also getting the reach and visibility it deserves,” Faeser, who’s also responsible for sports, wrote on Twitter on Thursday.

FIFA and the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) on Wednesday agreed on broadcasting rights for the tournament after tough negotiations over several months.

The extension of the media rights partnership between the football body and the EBU ensures “that the upcoming FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023 will be broadcast on the EBU’s free-to-air linear TV network across 34 European territories,” FIFA said in a statement.

The women’s tournament jointly hosted by Australia and New Zealand is due to kick off on July 20. Last year, FIFA and EBU had announced an initial deal for the broadcasting of the marquee tournament across 28 European territories, however that agreement did not include television networks in the top five European football nations, including Germany’s ARD and ZDF.

Under the revised agreement, major European broadcast markets – namely France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Britain – have been added, together with Ukraine.

FIFA had been asking for more money than networks were willing to offer in an attempt to raise more revenue for the women’s game, which has gained in popularity in recent years. Germany women’s team coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg said she was “simply relieved” that an agreement was reached “in the interests of the development of women’s football.”

“Now we can go into the preparations and the World Cup with even more momentum and positive energy,” she was quoted in a German Football Federation (DFB) statement on Wednesday.

DFB president Bernd Neuendorf added: “This is of enormous importance for the further development of women’s football in Germany.”

German women’s football ratings have soared lately. The Euro final between Germany and England was the most viewed sports programme in the country in 2022, with almost 18 million tuning in.