The game of fools between the International Football Federation (FIFA), which organizes the Women’s World Cup (July 20 to August 20, 2023), and French broadcasters, has continued for many months. Until Wednesday June 14, we did not know who would broadcast the competition and the matches of Les Bleues in France. An agreement has finally been formalized by the France Télévisions (FTV) and M6 groups, as well as FIFA. The pay channels beIN Sports and Canal+, which had also positioned themselves, saw their offers rejected – deemed insufficient in relation to the requirements of the international federation for its women’s tournament.
While the blockage was not limited to France – Spain, Germany, England and Italy also had difficulty finding broadcasters who are now also regulated – the European Union de radio-television (EBU) took charge of the negotiations with FIFA, representing the public channels. A way to avoid multiplying the interlocutors and to find a solution to a situation that was getting bogged down.
According to the agreement concluded on Wednesday, France Télévisions buys the broadcasting rights alone, then it then sub-licenses the meetings to the M6 group, in perfect parity. The interest of this ticket is of course to share the note. The France Télévisions-M6 tandem does not come out of nowhere since the two French operators had also acquired, the day before, the TV rights to the matches of the French women’s team – excluding the World Cup – for a period of four years; a contract negotiated, this time, with the French Football Federation (FFF).
“We look forward to the co-broadcasting of the Women’s World Cup this summer. Our antennas and our newsrooms will be fully mobilized to follow this major event and support Les Bleues in their journey.” welcomed Nicolas de Tavernost, chairman of the management board of the M6 group.
Same satisfaction on the side of France Télévisions with its president Delphine Ernotte Cunci : “I am very happy to see the French women’s football team return to public service channels until 2027, with the Football World Cup starting this summer”, which also details the cooperation with M6. “Thanks to this public-private alliance between France Télévisions and the M6 group, which I welcome, we are amplifying the movement. We are going to make it a big celebration of women’s football to give all little girls the desire to practice the most popular of sports. »
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