Organizers of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand are hoping to attract a record viewership of 2 billion, the most ever.
The report of the World Football Federation (FIFA) said that the 2019 Women’s World Cup had 1.12 billion viewers in the world, the final between the US and the Netherlands had 92.18 million viewers. Women’s soccer record. After four years, FIFA is aiming for a new record for women’s football when the World Cup is expanded from 24 to 32 teams.
“I think the audience watching the matches on television is a typical measure. We think we can reach 2 billion viewers for the upcoming World Cup. We know that the tournament will get a good audience from the traditional football markets, like the UK, like Europe.
In addition, the event is also in one time zone with some countries with large populations such as China and Indonesia. In addition, we are very close to the West Coast of the United States, India, so there will be a lot of people watching this tournament,” said Australian Football Association CEO James Johnson.
Previously, at EURO 2022 for women’s teams hosted by England, the number of live viewers worldwide was 365 million. Particularly for the final match, 87,192 people came to Wembley Stadium to watch the two teams compete. This is the highest number in the history of a EURO final for both men and women
“EURO 2022 is incredibly inspiring. We watched that tournament attentively. And we learned a lot from this event. I think what people have seen is, if your first game starts well, it resonates with the tournament,” Johnson added.
FIFA World Cup 2023 of women’s football will take place from July 20 to August 20. The Australian women’s team – one of the two co-hosts will compete in Group B with the Republic of Ireland, Nigeria and Canada. The first match of Matildas – the nickname of the Australian women’s team will take place at the jellyfish-filled Australian stadium with more than 82,000 seats, where they will meet the Republic of Ireland.
Johnson said the Matildas have played against strong opponents during the preparation for the 2023 Women’s World Cup to improve their chances at the tournament.
“As hosts we recognize the importance of going deep into the league, we have seen that in England with the Lionesses. We think that to keep interest high, it’s important for Matildas to go deep in the league. Playing at home, in front of a home crowd, can help the team win,” Johnson emphasized.
The 2023 Women’s World Cup has 32 participating teams, expanding from 24 teams compared to previous times. The Vietnamese women’s team is in Group E with the US, the Netherlands and the winner from the play-off bracket A.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino revealed FIFA has invested $1 billion in women’s football in recent years and although the 2015 and 2019 World Cups recorded financial losses, he hopes In the next cycle, women’s soccer will break even with estimated revenue of $400 million.