the Women’s World Cup attract the audience that marketers desire? //

The Women’s World Cup is now underway and has fueled the dreams of marketers and fans around the globe.

FIFA has priced sponsorships and ads accordingly. The organization is projecting that the total audience will be more than 2 billion (an increase by at least 800,000.000 people from the tournament of 2019). The soccer organisation is expecting to earn $807 Billion this year through ticket sales, TV broadcasting, marketing and hospitality rights.

FIFA will not be able to reach its revenue and audience targets if it does so despite its own actions.

The tournament was awarded to Australia and New Zealand because they are 9+ hours earlier than Europe, the largest soccer audience in the world. FIFA last did this in 2002, when the men’s tournament took place in Japan and South Korea. The audience that year was 30% smaller than in 2006, when the tournament was held in Germany.

The time difference between the U.S. and Canada, where women’s football is a big deal, whose team has won this tournament four times in a row, ranges from 15 to 19 hours.

Competition for viewers

The WWC starts a month earlier than usual this year and continues through August 20. It overlaps with the English Premier League, the world’s top soccer league.

The Wall Street Journal explains that FIFA will settle for less than $200 million, despite expecting $300 million. The Wall Street Journal reports that FIFA’s new broadcast rights will bring in only a third as much money as it expected.

The WWC is in New Zealand, Australia and Japan. This means that Japan will be only one to three minutes ahead of them. Like most people outside of the U.S., the nation is rich, soccer-mad, and won the 2011 WWC. It’s a perfect match, right?

Only a week earlier, the broadcast rights were sold for Japan. The broadcast rights for Japan were only sold a week ago.

The Good News

FIFA has 30 brand sponsors signed up for the World Cup. In 2019, they had only 12. In 2019, they only had 12.

Women’s soccer and the Women’s Super League are hugely popular in the U.K. According to the Women’s Sports Trust:

The National Women’s Soccer League in the United States attracted more than one million fans on-site last year. This is up by nearly 400,000 since 2021, and it’s more than any other women’s top soccer league. In 2019, <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/1030590/womens-world-cup-final-viewership-usa/#:~:text=The%202019%20Women's%20World%20Cup,States%20and%20Japan%20in%202015." The FIFA Women's World Cup Final was watched by 14.3 million people. They generated 17 millions more TV impressions, and 20 percent more viewers compared to the 2018 Men’s World Cup.

The WWC of this year is the first one to feature 32 teams. That’s eight more than 2019. The fact that 64 matches were played in both countries last week has been a promising sign. Nearly 1.4 million tickets have already sold, exceeding the previous record set in Canada eight years ago.

Women vs. FIFA

FIFA has been dismissive and condescending when it comes to women’s football for many years. In 2013, FIFA’s former president Sepp Blatter stated, “We have now three ladies on our board.” Ladies, say something. “You are always talking at home. Say something now.”

In 2015, this began to change when Blatter and thirteen other FIFA executives were charged with corruption. A new leadership was then put in place. The prize money for the World Cup this year shows that there is still a long road to travel.

Champion

• Their association received $4,290,000.
• $270,000 per player/23 players per team = $6,210,000

2nd place:

• Their association received $3,015,000
• $195,000 per player = $4,485,000

Third place

• Their association receives $2,610,000
• $180,000 per player = $4,140,000

4th Place

• Their association received $2,455,000
• $165,000 per player = $3,795,000

Teams who don’t advance past the first round

• Their association receives $1,560,000
• $30,000 per player = $690,000

Total prize Money for 2023 WWC

• $101 million (an increase of $80 million over 2019)

The average amount of money earned per dollar in 2022 compared to the Men’s World Cup

• $0.25

It’s a significant inequality. But what’s even worse is that not all players get paid that much. 29% of the players participating in the Confederation Championships in 2023 for the FIFA Women’s World Cup and the UEFA Women’s European Championship in 2022 reported that they had not received any payment from their team .

FIFA Steps Up?

FIFA announced in June a deal which would guarantee payment for all players. All players participating in the tournament will be paid for their accomplishments.

It’s a victory for FIFA, isn’t it?

Gianni Infantino, FIFA’s president, said a week earlier that the guarantee was off. “We will pay through the associations and the associations will make payments to their players.”

Forbes’ Kelly Phillips Erb slapped that with a yellow card, writing

Many multinational companies deal with global payroll issues regularly. It is remarkable that FIFA, a large company, can manage payrolls for all its employees in 60 countries every year. But not for the 736 soccer stars from 32 countries who are at the tournament.

Can the WWC overcome its many problems with all of the passion and interest it has generated for women’s football? Keep an eye on the news.

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