BBC, ITV bag Women’s World Cup rights

The BBC and ITV will provide live television coverage of the upcoming 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

In total all 64 matches from the tournament, which starts in Auckland on July 20, will be broadcast in the UK on either the BBC or ITV, except for the Final, which will be shown across both BBC One and ITV1.

Alongside TV coverage, live audio commentary will be broadcast on BBC Radio 5 Live and 5 Sports Extra, after securing rights to broadcast the tournament. Fans will be able to listen to 5 Live coverage on BBC Sounds, DAB radio and the BBC Sport website.

Across BBC iPlayer, BBC Sounds, TV, radio and online, the BBC will now look ahead to this summer’s competition in Australia and New Zealand, bringing audiences 2023 FIFA World Cup live coverage, entertainment, analysis and discussion.

Barbara Slater, Director of BBC Sport, says: “We have shown every Women’s World Cup on the BBC since 1999 and we are happy to extend our partnership with FIFA for the upcoming tournament. The growth of the women’s game is extraordinary, demonstrated by the 28 million who watched BBC coverage of the 2019 Women’s World Cup and the huge audience of 17.4 million who watched our coverage of the Euro 2022 final on TV last summer. In partnership with ITV we are delighted to make this World Cup available to the widest possible audience and free to air.”

ITV will show coverage of half of the tournament’s matches across ITV1 and ITV4 with simulcast and catchup on ITVX. Match highlights will also be on ITVX as well as ITV's social media platforms. And build up programming will be shown on ITV4/ITVX ahead of the tournament.

Niall Sloane, ITV Director of Sport, says: “We’re delighted to be able to bring comprehensive coverage of the Women’s World Cup, free to air to our audiences with both live and highlights broadcasts across ITV and ITVX.  This tournament promises to provide memorable moments with the popularity of women’s football continuing to grow. England’s Lionesses are entering the World Cup Finals as European champions and fans have been able to follow their progress to qualification on ITV through our coverage of the World Cup qualifiers, so we hope they’ll join us to see all the action from Australia and New Zealand throughout the tournament.”

The BBC and ITV have partnered with the EBU which is a European alliance of public service media organisations.

BBC Sport’s rights portfolio also includes Women’s Super League, the Olympic Games, The FA Cup, Wimbledon Championships, the Six Nations and the Premier League.

This new deal adds to ITV Sport’s portfolio of first-class events, which also includes Six Nations rugby, the Rugby World Cup, England Women's qualifiers and friendlies, UEFA EURO 2024, the FA Cup, EFL highlights including the Sky Bet Championship, Sky Bet League One, Sky Bet League Two, Carabao Cup and the EFL Trophy, La Liga, the Tour de France, the NFL, Heineken Champions Cup, Gallagher Premiership Rugby and, in motorsport, Extreme E, plus British Touring Car Championships and MotoGP, SailGP, plus major competitions in snooker and darts.