The French media giant, M6, is reportedly on the brink of securing broadcast rights to the 2027 FIFA Women's World Cup matches, adding to its already impressive portfolio of soccer broadcasting rights.
M6, controlled by the RTL Group, has a history with soccer broadcasting. The media group currently holds non-exclusive rights to the 2026 and 2030 men's FIFA World Cups. This deal was publicly announced in March 2024.
In addition to these men’s events, M6 also shared broadcast rights for the French women's national team with public-service France Televisions until mid-2027. However, this agreement did not cover major international tournaments.
Sharing rights for previous tournaments
The two broadcasters had previously shared rights for the 2023 WWC held across Australia and New Zealand. These agreements were only finalized at the last minute due to initial reluctance from European broadcasters over FIFA’s proposed fees for WWC coverage.
With eyes set on Brazil where the next WWC will take place in 2027, M6 is now considering whether it can cover all available games from this tournament itself or sub-license several matches out to another French broadcaster.
At previous tournaments like that in Australia and New Zealand in 2023 where France made it to quarter-finals before being knocked out by hosts Australia on penalty kicks; and at home in France during the WWC of 2019 where they were eliminated at quarter-finals by eventual winners US; M6 has shown a strong commitment towards promoting women's football through their broadcasts.
Recent developments around broadcast rights
In terms of recent developments around broadcast activity for future tournaments such as that slated for Brazil in '27 - earlier this month New World TV - a Togo-based satellite television network operating across sub-Saharan Africa, was announced as a rights-holder in numerous markets in that region. This agreement also covers the 2026 men's World Cup, which will be held across Mexico, the US, and Canada.
A tender for the 2027 tournament has also gone live in Canada this June. This could potentially cover the 2031 tournament as well, although a host nation for this event is yet to be allocated.
M6’s potential acquisition of broadcast rights for the 2027 Women’s World Cup would mark another significant step forward in their commitment to soccer broadcasting. It remains to be seen how these developments will shape up and what impact they will have on sports fans and sports betting enthusiasts alike.
