From The Gist Team |
Welcome to The GIST’s Sports Biz Breakfast, where we dive deep into one timely sports biz topic.
This year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup (WWC) promises to be the biggest edition of the tournament yet, thanks in large part to the quadrennial soccer showcase’s major business transformations.
The Breakdown |
The USWNT weren’t the only winners at the 2019 WWC in France. FIFA and its partners scored several business Ws during the tournament, which convinced world soccer’s governing body to fast-track upgrades for 2023. The first change? Increasing the WWC from 24 to 32 teams, which FIFA greenlit just weeks after the USWNT’s victory in 2019.
And FIFA didn’t stop there. With preparations underway for the 2023 WWC in Australia and New Zealand, FIFA launched a new commercial partnership structure in December 2021 designed to capitalize on the global growth of women’s soccer. This included unbundling the women’s sponsorship inventory and media rights from the men’s counterpart for the first time.
However, FIFA experienced some growing pains with its commercial strategy. Selling WWC broadcast rights proved difficult in five countries where the game is undoubtedly growing — the U.K., Germany, Spain, France, and Italy. The organization was locked in a monthslong battle to secure a deal, which was finally resolved last week.
This wasn’t the only stumbling block for FIFA on the road to the 2023 WWC. The governing body tried to sign the tourism arm of Saudi Arabia (Visit Saudi) as a tournament sponsor, a move that earned a straight red card, with many correctly describing it as sportswashing. FIFA thankfully reversed course before signing on the dotted line.
This year’s WWC will serve as a first test for FIFA’s new commercial partnership structure, but not necessarily as a conclusion on the strategy’s success. At the very least, the unbundled deals will allow FIFA and stakeholders to determine the WWC’s true financial value for the first time and how it correlates with growing interest in women’s soccer globally.
When it comes to media rights, FIFA has a massive opportunity to cash in for 2027. The broadcast deals it signed in Western Europe only cover the 2023 WWC, and FIFA’s deal with Fox and its American Spanish-language agreement with NBCUniversal’s Telemundo will expire after the 2026 men’s World Cup.
Women’s soccer’s continuing rise should attract even more sponsors for 2027, but considering FIFA’s potential alliance with Visit Saudi this year, it begs the question: Will Saudi Arabia or other problematic backers try again, and will FIFA be able to resist the money next time?
Between the Visit Saudi discussions and last year’s men’s World Cup in Qatar, it’s not like FIFA has a strong track record on saying no to deep sportswashing pockets. But Saudi Arabia’s considerable ascension in recent weeks could change the sports landscape as we know it and poses a new set of questions for everyone in the sports business.
💰 Unbundling has its perks. FIFA assessed that the market is big enough to lure sponsors interested in specifically supporting women’s soccer and signed deals accordingly. And FIFA isn’t alone — UEFA recently unbundled its women’s and men’s commercial operations, raking in $16M in revenue from the Women’s Champions League in 2021–22.
⚽ What will FIFA gain from increasing the WWC field to 32 teams? Matchday revenue and TV audiences should rise thanks to more games on the schedule, while New Zealand’s economy expects a boost of over $124M from this year’s tourney.
🌍 Will the WWC bump lift women’s club soccer around the world? The USWNT’s 2019 win drove audiences and sponsors to the NWSL, and the league hopes to capitalize on that momentum again. Other leagues around the world — like England’s burgeoning Women’s Super League — could also reap long-lasting benefits from the WWC. Halo effect.
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The GIST's Picks |
The USWNT. Jersey sales are up 30% from the last kit launch, the team beat FY 2023 ticket sales projections by $3.1M, and they’re expected to rake in millions in royalties from official merch sales this year. Slay.
The LEGO Play Unstoppable minifigures, featuring the USWNT’s Megan Rapinoe, Japan’s Yuki Nagasato, Australia’s Sam Kerr, and Nigeria’s Asisat Oshoala. Literally building for the future.
LFG, the 2021 documentary about the USWNT’s historic battle for equal pay that offers an unparalleled look into a fight that forever changed the beautiful game.
This article about the American soccer audience on Spanish-language TV. Twenty percent of Hispanic women consider themselves soccer superfans compared to 10% of non-Hispanic men and 8% of non-Hispanic women, meaning the 2027 WWC’s Spanish-language rights could present quite the financial opportunity for FIFA and advertisers alike.