[Football] FIFA threatening womens WC TV Blackout

[Herr Tubthumper]

The product needs to be good enough, it isn't yet. I do enjoy watching the WSL when Brighton are involved, but female 'keepers and officials are so woeful that it makes the sport nearly unwatchable. I don't blame the TV companies, the product needs to improve.

This isn’t exclusive to the women’s game

 

[Simster]

Infantino decided that this Women's World Cup should be expanded by 50% from 16 teams to 24.

In the 2019 tournament, we had USA 13 Thailand 0. Thailand were ranked FIFA ranked #29 at the time of the draw.

It would be reasonable to expect more mismatches in this tournament with 8 teams making their debut.

Current FIFA rankings:
#21 Portugal
#22 Republic of Ireland
#33 Vietnam
#49 Philippines
#52 Panama
#53 Haiti
#73 Morocco
#77 Zambia

I'd be surprised if any of the following fixtures don't result in double figure scorelines.
22 July England v Haiti; USA v Vietnam
24 July Germany v Morocco
26 July Spain v Zambia
02 Aug France v Panama

Away from a desire to grow the game, do one-sided uncompetitive fixtures make for great TV and viewing figures?

Rather than targeting European broadcasters who clearly have a much better appreciation of the value of the product being offered, perhaps Infantino and FIFA would be better off focusing on the broadcasters of those countries that have qualified for the first time. One might expect that there would be a heightened level of interest there.

So why isn't he doing so? Any guesses?

World Cups of any sport and any gender are always a trade off between showcasing the best the sport has to offer and expanding into new markets. Always has been, always will be. The fact that six matches out of around 44 will be a complete mismatch is arguably a price worth paying. But I take your point over why Infantino might not be targeting those new nations broadcasters!

 

[Muzzman]

This isn’t exclusive to the women’s game

True... doesn't excuse them for having awful referees though.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

True... doesn't excuse them for having awful referees though.

Equality, but not really the equality we want