The European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the continent’s association of public-service broadcasters, has snapped up rights in a number of major European markets to soccer's 2027 FIFA Women's World Cup.
The deal, conducted on behalf of 19 EBU members, will ensure free-to-air WWC coverage across the following territories: Czechia, Hungary, the Netherlands, Norway, Malta, Belgium, Spain, Slovakia, Iceland, Sweden, Ukraine, Denmark, Poland, Belgium, and Finland.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
Next year's WWC will take place in Brazil – the first time South America will host the tournament – between June 24 and July 27.
Across all of the above territories – with that list containing some traditional heavyweight women's soccer nations, such as Spain – at least one game per day will be covered on EBU members' channels.
There will also be highlights distributed, supported by the Eurovision News platform.
Stefan-Eric Wildemann, EBU Sport's head of soccer, basketball, and digital acquisitions, stated: "This agreement ensures that FIFA Women’s World Cup 2027 will be widely and easily accessible to fans across Europe.
“A strong focus on women’s sport underpins everything we do at the EBU, and by putting visibility first, we are proud not only to continue our long-standing commitment, but to keep evolving our approach in growing audiences, strengthening storytelling, and building long-term value for women’s competitions as a central part of the sports landscape.”
The EBU has struck partnerships with soccer's governing body FIFA for the WWC since the 2015 iteration of the tournament, then moving on to the editions in 2019 (France) and 2023 (Australia and New Zealand).
For the men's World Cup, meanwhile, the EBU also holds rights to both the 2026 and 2030 editions in a range of markets on the continent.
In terms of recent EBU activity, the umbrella body expanded its partnership with the Aquatics GB governing body in late March. The expanded agreement will see an increase in the range of events available free-to-air in the UK throughout the year, including swimming, diving, artistic swimming, and open water swimming, via the Eurovision Sport streaming service, which will be embedded within the Aquatics GB website.
For the Women's World Cup, meanwhile, a rights deal in Singapore with state broadcaster Mediacorp was unveiled in early February.
The European qualifying campaign for the WWC is taking place currently and will run through until December.
