NHK, the Japanese state broadcaster, has struck an eleventh-hour deal to cover soccer’s upcoming FIFA Women’s World Cup (WWC).
This represents a deal in one of the last major territories in which soccer’s governing body FIFA had not yet sold tournament rights.
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The 2023 FIFA WWC takes place across Australia and New Zealand between July 20 and August 20, and NHK will show games in which the Japanese national team takes part. The three group-stage fixtures involving Japan will be played on July 22 (against Zambia), July 25 (Costa Rica), and July 31 (Spain).
The national team’s games will be shown primarily on the BS1 satellite TV channel, although it has been reported that the terrestrial channel NHK-G will cover the final group game against Spain.
As has been the case in many other countries, the conversations and negotiations between FIFA and broadcasters around the value of WWC rights had not been simple.
For the last WWC, in France four years ago, major advertising agency Dentsu held media rights in Japan. At that tournament, Japan were knocked out in the round of 16 by the Netherlands.
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By GlobalDataKozo Tashima, president of the Japanese Football Association, said: “If many people watch the games, it will be a great motivation for the players.”
In terms of overall WWC media rights sales, FIFA expects to secure around $100 million less in rights fees than it expected to, according to reports.
The body is bringing in $200 million as opposed to $300 million, the Wall Street Journal reported last week.
This year’s WWC is the first for which FIFA has sold separate broadcast rights, not affiliated with the men’s World Cup in Qatar last year.
The Wall Street Journal has claimed that FIFA is only bringing in around half of the fees it hoped to from the main European soccer markets – between $30 and $35 million.
European broadcasters in some cases offered such small sums – reportedly, some networks offered only 1% of the value of their bids to cover the 2022 men’s event – that FIFA’s president Gianni Infantino threatened to not sell the rights at all on the continent.
Eventually, deals were struck in the main five European markets – the UK, Germany, France, Spain, and Italy – but these tie-ups are not bringing FIFA as much as was expected.
In terms of rights fees from deals struck after the men’s World Cup, FIFA is reportedly set to bring in only $50 million of the $150 million it hoped to.
Over the last month, WWC rights agreements have been unveiled in territories including Portugal, Argentina, Costa Rica, Nigeria, Vietnam, South Korea, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.
ImageL Maja Hitij/Getty Images
