Swedish public-service broadcaster SVT has secured a four-year deal for rights to the country’s national women’s soccer team. This comes through a sub-licensing agreement with Nordic streaming giant Viaplay, covering the 2025-28 cycle.
The package of games to be shown by SVT includes high-profile competitions such as the UEFA Women’s Nations League, qualifying games for the 2027 FIFA World Cup, and the UEFA Women’s European Championship in 2029. Additionally, it will cover matches from the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. In total, between 10 and 13 national women’s team games per calendar year will be aired on this free-to-air network.
Max Bursell, sport manager at SVT, said:
“The women's national football team is one of the most popular national teams among all categories. We have broadcast most of their matches in recent years and are very pleased that viewers will continue to follow them on SVT for another four years.”
Viaplay's role
Viaplay has held these rights since April 2022 when it signed a deal that also covers both men’s and women’s editions of Swedish club cup competitions along with multiple other properties until May 2029.
However, due to significant financial issues unveiled in late last month's fourth-quarter financial results report from Viaplay, they have been looking to cut costs regarding its rights expenditure since early 2023. As part of their cost-cutting measures, they decided to withdraw from many expansion markets and focus primarily on Nordics and Netherlands regions.
SVT has previously broadcast qualifiers for both the UEFA Women's Euro in Switzerland set across July (the latter competition) as well as those held back in 2021. However, no deal has been struck yet in Sweden for this year’s women’s Euro, where the women’s side will be present following qualifying play-off victories against Luxembourg and Serbia.
Swedish women's team performance
The Swedish women's team has had a commendable performance in recent years. They secured third place and a bronze medal at both the 2019 and 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cups. In the 2022 women’s Euro held in England, they reached up to the semi-final stage but were defeated by the hosts who eventually won.
This new deal ensures that sports fans and sports betting enthusiasts can continue to follow their favorite team's journey over the next four years on SVT.
