The deal
The UK's BBC public-service broadcaster and commercial free-to-air network ITV will both cover soccer's 2027 FIFA Women's World Cup (WWC), it was announced last week.
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This is a retention of the rights the two broadcasters held for the 2023 WWC, held in Australia and New Zealand, and at which event England reached the final before losing to Spain.
The deal was unveiled on the same day – July 27 – that England won the final of the 2025 UEFA Women's European Championships national teams tournament (successfully defending the title they won in 2022), turning the tables on Spain and emerging victorious after a penalty shootout. Wales, meanwhile, competed at the Women's Euros for the first time.
For the 2027 WWC – to be staged in Brazil, marking the first time the event takes place in South America – the BBC and ITV will share rights to the 64-game event, with both networks to air the showpiece final.
Why it matters
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By GlobalDataInterest in the 2027 Women’s World Cup will undoubtedly be high in the UK, piggybacking on England’s success at the Women's Euros.
That tournament drew significant viewership throughout, with both BBC and ITV reporting massive audiences (as did many other European broadcasters).
For the final, a peak audience of 16.2 million tuned in – 12.2 million of those on the BBC, and 4.2 million via ITV.
The commercial broadcaster said its figure represented a 25% viewing share of those watching or streaming the match through a TV, an increase of 5% from its viewing share with the BBC of the Women’s World Cup in 2023.
Speaking on the UK broadcasters' 2027 WWC rights deal, GlobalData Sport associate analyst Tom Subak-Sharpe commented: “With the Lionesses having just become back-to-back European Champions, their victorious campaign helped both the BBC and ITV achieve substantial viewership figures, especially for the final.
"This new deal and those viewing figures should assure FIFA that interest and viewership figures in the UK for the Lionesses' 2027 World Cup campaign – if they qualify – will also be very high, as the team aims to win their first-ever Women’s World Cup.
"In the lead-up to the 2023 Women’s World Cup, FIFA President Gianni Infantino threatened a broadcast blackout due to five major European nations placing low-value media rights bids and not showing enough interest in airing the action from Australia and New Zealand. Now, what the UK has demonstrated with this latest renewal is that FIFA should have no repeat concerns regarding broadcasters' interest in treating the competition seriously and as a viable proposition.
"Indeed, with women's soccer experiencing significant growth across the UK, thanks to the superb performance of the Lionesses over the past four years, broadcasting the 2027 Women’s World Cup on free-to-air platforms is crucial for ensuring that women's soccer remains easily accessible to a substantial audience."
The detail
At the WWC, the BBC will disseminate content across its range of outlets, including live coverage on its linear TV channels, the BBC iPlayer streaming service, and radio networks, while additional content, including highlights and behind-the-scenes video, will feature across the broadcaster’s social media and digital channels.
ITV, for its part, will broadcast games on its primary ITV1 network, ITV4, and the ITVX streaming platform, and similarly distribute highlights and other ancillary programming across its range of social and digital channels.
England’s qualifying campaign for the WWC, meanwhile, will be broadcast in its entirety by ITV. A tie-up to that effect (an extension, running through 2029) was announced last October.
The qualifiers for the 2027 tournament will start in Europe in February 2026.
For the next men’s FIFA World Cup, to be held across Mexico, the US, and Canada, next June and July, the BBC and ITV are also sharing rights. That tie-up was struck in December.
For the 2027 WWC, meanwhile, some notable broadcast deals already struck include a tie-up in the US with content and entertainment giant Netflix, with that agreement also covering rights to the 2031 tournament.
Deutsche Telekom in Germany has also snapped up WWC rights and is covering next year's men's event.
