By Grant Jarvie
University of Edinburgh
Sone Key Facts
• 9th Women’s Football World Cup.
• 8 teams qualifying for the first time.
• 32 team format for the first time.
• More than 1.3 million tickets sold, surpassing the previous 2019 tournament in France.
• 300% increase in prize money since the previous 2019 World Cup.
• Estimated prize money of $152 million compared to $440 million for the 2022 Qatar FIFA men’s World Cup.
• FIFA partnership with the United Nations to highlight social issues.
• Dual nation hosting format across 10 stadiums and 9 host cities.
• 28 million watched the BBC coverage of the 2019 Women’s World Cup.
• FIFA payment of £24,000 to every participant in the group stage.
Observations
The growth of women’s football provides a real opportunity to be grasped, sustained, and progressed both on and off the pitch.
The 9th FIFA Women’s World Cup kicked off last Thursday with more teams playing (32) compared to 2019 (24) and 1991 (12), increased funding – a 300% increase in funding compared to 2019- and despite the late signing of TV right deals the distinct possibility of an increased number of viewers compared to 28 million people who watched the BBC’s coverage of the 2019 event in France.
The testimonies to the growth of women’s football have not been hard to find. USA star and activist Megan Rapinoe stating that ““It feels like a real opportunity to blow the lid off in terms of fanfare and media and sponsorships and the larger business around this sport”.
The tournament comes on the back of the Carney Review proclaiming that “Women’s football in England could be a ‘billion-pound industry’ in next 10 years”. Last year attendance at SWPL matches in Scotland surpassed 100,000 for the first time.
The comparative coverage of the 2015- and 2019-Women’s World Cups reveals an upward trajectory on all fronts.
The top 5 FIFA ranked teams are present (USA, Germany, Sweden, England France). 25% of the nation’s competing have qualified for the first time. These being Haiti, Morocco, Panama, the Philippines, Portugal, Republic of Ireland, Vietnam, and Zambia.
In Sam Kerr Australia has a captain and striker that makes most top 5 women player in the world lists. Canada boast one of the superstars of the women’s game in Christine Sinclair. Her current tally of 190 goals makes her the highest scoring player in international football. A tally that is well ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo’s tally of 123.
All of these factors and more have the 2023 World Cup billed as the biggest women’s football event and one of the biggest sports events for women in the world. The tournament presents a month of visibility for women’s football. Growth tends to follow visibility.
Inequality gaps still remain. Women led reviews call for minimum standards across corporate structures, the professional environment, fan experience and grassroots. Financial and TV rights disputes underpinned the build-up to the tournament. Investment, recognition, the closure of inequality gaps and genuine football for all remains work in progress.
Perhaps the greatest success will be off the pitch where nations finally learn how to harness the reach of football to enable a difference in some of the most challenging of circumstances.
For Australia and New Zealand, the tournament provides an opportunity to progress reconciliation with indigenous peoples.
Concluding Remarks
The growth of women’s football at all levels provides a real opportunity that needs to be fully grasped, sustained, and progressed. Investment, recognition, the closure of inequality gaps, the avoidance of strategic implementation gaps and genuine football for all remains work in progress.
The 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup is likely to be the most viewed women’s football tournament yet. The tournament comes on the back of a series of international reports benchmarking the progress and opportunity for women’s football. Women led reviews of women’s football have tended to call for minimum standards across four areas – corporate structures, the professional environment, fan experience and grassroots .
The 32 teams at 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup have all succeeded in overcoming different challenges and barriers. Success for some is being there, success for others will be nothing less than winning or getting through group stages and success for all will be making a difference in the opportunities for women and girls when the teams go back home.
Perhaps the greatest success will be off the pitch where nations finally understand and learn how to harness the reach and scale of football to enable a difference in some of the most challenging of circumstances.
The outgoing FIFA Secretary General is Fatma Samba Diouf Samoura. Someone who has worked for more than two decades for the UN in countries affected by war, violence, and a lack of women’s rights. On arriving in Australia for the World Cup she reflected that she believes “nothing else in the world, including UN peacekeepers and good-natured politicians, can do what soccer does for African countries” .
