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VIRAL EXCLUSIVE
Aug. 29, 2023
Did You Watch the Women’s World Cup?
UN Women applauds the International Association Football Federation (FIFA) for showcasing social issues during the tournament, in the form of the captains’ arm bands and on stadium LEDs that carried messages such as “unite for gender equality”.
The fact that it was just “the game” speaks volumes about just how far this World Cup has come in normalising women’s sports and, by extension, women’s rights. When two billion people watch women play at this world-class level, it changes the way people perceive women’s capabilities and fuels the dreams and confidence of girls who see themselves going for goals too.
It has become the most valuable women's property globally, with rights revenue of $70–100m, according to Omdia's estimates. FIFA argued strongly with broadcasters— particularly in Europe—to offer more money for the rights. Their case is supported by the increasing TV audiences for professional women's sports, which are often on par with men's events. Attendance and sponsorship are also growing.
Media Rights
This value does not include deals from the US, Canada, Brazil, and other Latin America & Caribbean markets, where the rights are still bundled with the men’s World Cup. Seven of the top 11 most valuable women’s events are soccer league championships, reflecting the global appeal of the sport and the success the women’s game has had in establishing itself worldwide. The second-placed US Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) owes its position to multiple broadcast partnerships with ESPN, CBS, Ion, Amazon, and others. The WTA tennis tour brings in $49m from a 10-year deal with WTA Media, a joint venture between the Tour and DAZN Group that started in 2014.
However, rights revenue for women's leagues is far behind men's events. The Women's Tennis Association (WTA) tennis tour, for example, is less than a third of the value of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Tour. No other major women's league is worth more than even 2% of its equivalent men's league. Women's sports are also seeing a boost from the rise of live streaming. DAZN is heavily emphasising women's sports, paying more for media rights globally than any other broadcaster or platform.
Game Changer
One of the untold stories behind this World Cup is how, during the 2015 corruption scandals in FIFA, a group of determined women from football and other parts of the sports world demanded to be included at the FIFA decision-making table for the first time in more than 100 years. By 2016, these demands were largely included in the revised FIFA Constitution, with reserved seats for women in the executive committees. This was followed by the appointment of FIFA’s first female Secretary General, and the creation of the Women’s Football Division with an investment in 2019 of USD 1 billion to build the women’s game. In less than a decade, we see the results in the form of the largest women’s sporting event on the planet.
Maybe the biggest game changer for the Women’s World Cup is that, while in many parts of the world we are witnessing a roll-back of women’s rights, we see that football—and sports more broadly—are going in a positive direction: expanding opportunities and crushing negative stereotypes. Unfortunately, we have also seen the backlash in action in the form of toxic messaging on social media that targeted some of the World Cup’s biggest stars and teams. But the players continued to play and the fans continued to cheer.
This all bodes well for the future, as the girls who watched the tournament are tomorrow’s champions—perhaps on the pitch, but more importantly, they are tomorrow’s champions in life. We watch the Women’s World Cup to see amazing goals, but the real goal is gender equality, which will benefit us all.
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