Watch your Women's World Cup predictor game selections live

In a battle as tense as any big football final, the negotiations for the TV rights to the Women’s World Cup Finals almost went down to the final whistle. Fortunately for all the Women’s World Cup predictor game players, a last minute deal has been struck between European broadcasters and FIFA, which will ensure that all 64 games of the tournament will be broadcast live and free to air.

What was the problem?

In the past, the rights to the men’s and women’s World Cups were bundled together as one, meaning a deal was inevitable. This time around however, the rights to the men’s and women’s events were negotiated separately. While the Men’s World Cup attracted bids of around £100-£200million, the early bids for the women’s event were significantly lower at between £800,000 and £8million. In his trademark flamboyant style, Gianni Infantino, FIFA President, described this as a “slap in the face” not only to women players, but all women worldwide!

Why does FIFA want more money?

FIFA aims to bring parity to the men’s and women’s World Cups, with equal pay by the next tournaments in 2026 and 2027. They’ve already trebled the prize money for this year’s tournament to $152million, but this is still far short of the $440million offered at the men’s event. To achieve more even prize money, FIFA needs to bring in equal revenue. With 1.12billion people watching the last Women’s World Cup, it’s not unreasonable to ask for a little more for the rights.

What agreement has been reached?

While the exact price has not been released, the good news is that the European Broadcasting Union, which includes the UK, has reached an agreement with FIFA. As a result, all the Women’s World Cup games will be televised live, for free, on either ITV or BBC. That said, with the tournament taking place in Australia and New Zealand, many games will be kicking off in the small hours of the night British time. This could make the tournament one that is just for the purists and the most dedicated Women’s World Cup predictor game players.

When can we watch England?

Fortunately, FIFA knows its audience well, and the hugely popular England group games all have much more reasonable kick off times.

• Saturday 22nd July - England v Haiti  10:30
• Friday 28th July - England v Denmark  9:30
• Tuesday 1st August – England v China  12noon

The semi-finals are Tuesday 15th August at 9am and Wednesday 16th August at 11am, and should England make it to the final, we can all enjoy a lie-in, with a kick off time of 11am.

A huge audience expected

Women’s football, and women’s sport in general, have been growing in both profile and popularity in recent years. No less than 17.4million people in the UK tuned in to watch the Women’s Euro victory last year. TV bosses are confident that even more will follow Sarina Wiegman’s girls this time, whether they are Women’s World Cup predictor game players or just part of the team’s growing fanbase.

It's never too late

It’s just over a month until hosts New Zealand open the finals against Norway, and Australia play the Republic of Ireland, on July 20th. But as FIFA and the broadcasters have proved, it’s never too late to get things sorted out before the tournament. There’s still time to join the Women’s World Cup predictor game with Noise, to get your team united and inspired by a bit of friendly competition. Just give our team a call on 01524 68446 or fill out the contact form and you and your colleagues can join the thousands of players across the world playing the Women’s World Cup predictor game.