Which TV Channel to watch the Women's World Cup on?
by Steve Ashfield | by Kevin Richard
A Feast of Football in July and August
The eyes of the footballing world will be on Australia and New Zealand from July 20 to August 20. The two countries are co-hosting the 2023 Women's World Cup as the USA defend their title won four years ago. The time differences will mean some early nights for some television viewers in the Northern Hemisphere. However, no lover of women's football is going to want to miss out on the action.
Amazingly though, that very nearly was the case. FIFA were not at all happy with the amounts that broadcasting companies were prepared to pay to buy broadcasting rights for the 2023 Women's World Cup. The level of the bids was just a fraction of those that are made to cover the men's World Cup.
Women's football has made great strides in recent years. Viewing figures have increased, particularly for the Women's Super League in England with players becoming household names. The Women's Champions League has also proved to be extremely popular. Thankfully, the broadcasters agreed deals with FIFA and viewers will be able to watch what promises to be a fascinating tournament. Don't forget, you can also follow all the live action on our Sportytrader Women's World Cup Livescore page.
We'll now take a look at which TV channels you need to be watching to be able to see the 2023 Women's World Cup matches. This will cover the UK, Nigeria and the USA, all of whom have great interest in the matches ahead.
BBC and ITV To Show 2023 Women's World Cup
England won the 2022 European Championships and that has helped boost the popularity of women's football. The English side are one of the favourites to win the 2023 Women's World Cup so fans can't wait for the tournament to begin. Also qualified for the tournament are the Republic of Ireland.
The good news for UK viewers is that the matches will be shown on the BBC and ITV. That means they will be free to air and no subscriptions to channels such as Sky will be needed. All of the matches will be shown live on television and that will mean some early starts but viewers won't mind as long as the football is entertaining. Can England add the world crown to their European title? Check out the latest Women's World Cup odds throughout the tournament.
England's opening game against Haiti on July 22nd will be shown live on ITV as will their final group fixture against China on August 1st. The second England fixture is on July 28th against Denmark and you'll need to tune into the BBC to watch that one. All being well, England will reach the last 16 and whoever they play (most likely Canada or Australia) will be shown on the BBC. Ireland's first two games against Australia (July 20th) and Canada (July 26th) are on ITV with their game against Nigeria on July 31st requiring you to tune into ITV.
Both the semifinals will be shown live on the BBC with both channels covering the final on August 20th. As well as coverage on BBC and ITV, there will also be the chance to watch matches online on the BBC iPlayer and ITVX. It all promises to be a feast of football. If you're keen on placing bets on the tournament, make sure you read our betting tips page.
Americans Hoping to See Another Title Won
If there's one country that is looking forward to the 2023 Women's World Cup, it's the USA. They are the defending champions and bidding to win this trophy for the fifth time. Americans love watching sport and enjoy it even more if their country is winning world titles.
To be able to watch the 2023 Women's World Cup, American viewers can tune into Fox Sports. While American Football is still tremendously popular in the USA, football or 'soccer' as they like to call it is also growing in popularity in the States. Another good run for the USA in the 2023 Women's World Cup is likely to get some good ratings.
There's also coverage of the tournament on Telemundo. This is an American Spanish language terrestrial television station. It's owned by NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises with its HQ in Miami. The USA begin the defence of their world title on July 22nd against Vietnam. Six days later they take on the Netherlands with their final group fixture being against Portugal on August 1st.
Tune Into Afrosport
Nigeria have qualified for these finals and take on Ireland, co-hosts Australia and Canada in Group A. It's going to be a tough task for them to reach the knockout stages for the second successive Women's World Cup.
It will be necessary to tune into Afrosport to watch all the exciting games that are set to take place down under. This is the first African continental free-to-air sports channel. They won the broadcasting rights for this much anticipated football tournament. Their coverage willl begin with the opening game of the tournament between New Zealand and Norway.
Each of the three Nigerian matches will also be shown live on the channel. July 21st sees them face Canada, then Australia six days later. Their final group match is against Ireland on July 31st. The channel will be showing at least one match per day. Other African nations in the 2023 Women's World Cup are Zambia, Morocco and South Africa.
