IMG, the global sports and entertainment agency, has been chosen to produce coverage of soccer's upcoming FIFA Women’s World Cup for the UK's public broadcaster the BBC.
Under the agreement, IMG will manage the incoming live match feed, studio presentation, and highlight programming for the 33 fixtures aired by the BBC during the 32-team tournament, which will be held in Australia and New Zealand from July 20 to August 20.
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IMG will also have a dedicated production team embedded in the England Lionesses’ camp to create exclusive content for the BBC’s digital and new channels.
The BBC and commercial broadcaster ITV hold joint UK rights for the Women's World Cup as part of an expanded deal between world soccer's governing body FIFA and the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the alliance of public service broadcasters, struck last month.
As part of that agreement, the tournament is also being shown by ARD and ZDF in Germany, RTVE (Spain), Rai (Italy), and France Télévisions. In addition, coverage in Ukraine will be provided by UA:PBC.
The deal covers rights across TV, digital, and radio.
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By GlobalDataBarney Francis, executive vice president and head of global production at IMG, said: "The entire nation will be watching this summer’s World Cup with anticipation and excitement.
“We’re proud to bring viewers all the best live action and thrilling highlights through IMG’s coverage on the BBC, so fans can experience the Lionesses’ journey from home.”
The deal adds to IMG’s previous deals to produce live coverage for soccer rightsholders, including England men’s UEFA Nations League matches, European qualifiers, and international friendlies for UK broadcaster Channel 4, as well as an English Football League highlights show for ITV, the MLS Season Pass on Apple TV streaming service, and UEFA Champions League coverage for US network CBS.
For an in-depth look at EBU’s eleventh-hour deal with FIFA, which ended a months-long standoff with operators in key European markets, read here.
Meanwhile, sports streaming service DAZN will show highlights from the Women’s World Cup in Germany after securing rights from SportA, the sports rights agency of rightsholders ARD and ZDF.
Under the deal, highlights of all games will be available to viewers shortly after the final whistle via the DAZN app.
As part of the deal, DAZN will also stream all matches during the UEFA Women’s U19 European Championship taking place from July 18 to 30.
DAZN had a similar deal in place with SportA for the previous WWC, in 2019 in France.
The rights add to DAZN’s portfolio of women’s soccer including content from the UEFA Women’s Champions League, the Spanish Liga F, North America’s NWSL, and Germany's Frauen Bundesliga.
