Women’s World Cup 2023: How to buy tickets, FIFA’s $5b vision
FIFA is already threatening broadcasters who are underbidding for the women’s World Cup that they’ll miss out on it. If that’s not an indication of the magnitude of this event, then what is?
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FIFA predicts the women’s World Cup will eventually rival the $US5 billion men’s version and expects the 2023 tournament in Australia and New Zealand to become the “watershed” moment.
More than two billion viewers will tune in to this year’s World Cup, and FIFA’s chief women’s football officer, Sarai Bareman, declared it will be the tournament to propel females to gain equal footing with men in earnings.
The bold prediction comes 100 days before the tournament kicks off at Auckland’s Eden Park on July 20 when New Zealand plays Norway, and Australia takes on Ireland at Sydney’s Accor Stadium later that evening.
Last-minute tickets to all games will be made available online today from noon (AEST), with the link below.
“We know the men’s World Cup is the primary source of revenue for FIFA and football, and that generates in excess of $US5 billion per edition, and that’s a clear target for women’s football,” Bareman told News Corp Australia.
“We want to get to that level. The first World Cup for men was in 1930, it wasn’t until 61 years later the first women’s World Cup was introduced, we’re still in our infancy as a product.
“But we have to look at what’s happening in the men’s game as an inspiration and a target, for me it’s got to be in the billions and we have to keep pushing until we get to that level.”
Bareman, the New Zealand-born former Samoan international, says the women’s World Cup is already the second-biggest sporting event on the planet.
“It exceeds all sporting events outside of the men’s World Cup, the Olympics is a bit different because it’s played over so many different sporting codes and there’s different viewership over the different events,” she said.
“As a single sporting event, I know it certainly outstrips the men’s Rugby World Cup, that’s a stat I often like to drop to Kiwis.
“It’s huge, it’s global, there’s more than 200 countries from around the world, you don’t get that type of global reach for any other sport. It’s just massive, it’s the biggest participation sport in the world.
“You saw it last year in the World Cup in Qatar, the world just stops because football is happening, and the same thing is going to happen Down Under later this year.”
The legacy of Australia/New Zealand 2023 will be unmatched, Bareman predicts.
“People will be saying, ‘That was the watershed moment that changed everything and took the game to the next level’,” she said.
“And that’s in every aspect; commercially, participation, popularity and growth. I think people will really look back and choose the women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand as that watershed moment where the growth, which is already exponential, just took off to the absolute next level.”
More than one billion viewers watched the previous tournament in 2019 in France — won the by the United States — and FIFA forecasts double that figure this year.
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FIFA is already threatening broadcasters who are underbidding for the World Cup tournament they’ll miss out on it entirely. If that’s not an indication of the magnitude of this event, then what is?
They’re so confident in its appeal, FIFA is threatening broadcasters who are underbidding for the tournament they’ll miss out on it entirely.
“We do have to hold the line and make sure that for the good of the next generations of female footballers, that they are given the opportunities afforded their male counterparts,” Bareman said.
“We can only do that by ensuring its commercial value is recognised.
“It could be the case [some countries miss out], we’re still in the negotiation phase right now which is typical, often these things do come down to the wire so that’s nothing unusual.
“But yes, we could have a case where if the offer isn’t high enough, there may be a broadcaster that misses out.
“FIFA has 211 member nations, and away from the shining lights of a women’s World Cup we actually work with those countries day in, day out to develop the game from the grassroots level all the way up to national league competitions.
“That’s our bread and butter, and the funding we’re able to generate from the women’s World Cup will enhance everything we do in those 211 countries.”
Officials expect an explosion of Australian women and girls taking up football after the World Cup finishes, after England saw a massive surge four years ago when their team made the quarter-finals.
“It’s going to be exponential, we saw it in 2019 in England — off the back of the success of the Lionesses — 850,000 more women and girls laced up their boots for the first time after that event,” Bareman said.
“And they weren’t the host country. So here in Australia, the impact will be even bigger, and the good thing is that Football Australia have got a very comprehensive legacy plan in place that’s very targeted to ensure that when that interest peaks, they’re ready to capture it at every level.”
FA expects to get 400,000 more females in Australia playing the game post-tournament.
While many fans expressed frustration at missing out on tickets for the World Cup, which sold out quickly, on Tuesday, April 11 at 12pm (AEST) the last batch of tickets will go on sale for a host of games.
**Go to fifa.com/tickets where single match passes start at $20 for adults and $10 for children.
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Originally published as Women’s World Cup 2023: How to buy tickets, FIFA’s $5b vision
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