FIFA has appointed Turkish sports media sales agency Saran Media Group as rights holder for 24 European and Eurasian markets for the 2027 Women’s World Cup.

Markets covered under the new deal is long and include Turkey, the Republic of Ireland, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Kosovo, and a sweep of Baltic, Balkan, and Central Asian territories including Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan.

This follows the 18-territory deal signed with the European Broadcasting Union, which covers 19 EBU public broadcasters and guarantees free-to-air coverage across Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Poland, Ukraine and others.

Taken together, FIFA are claiming the “highest level of broadcast coverage ever secured in Europe for a Women’s World Cup,” with free-to-air access in more than 40 territories and at least one match per day shown live.

Promising free-to-air broadcast is a significant change of strategy for FIFA compared to the 2023 Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand which FIFA took to market late and then failed to get blanket coverage in Europe as broadcasters rebelled at paying the high price for rights FIFA was demanding. Coverage in many markets was behind paywalls reducing the access to the tournament.

Jill Ellis, FIFA’s chief football officer, noted the shift in broadcaster interest, saying: “It is remarkable to see how the European broadcast market is embracing this historic edition of the FIFA Women’s World Cup by committing to the most comprehensive coverage in the tournament’s history. We are seeing strong interest in, and clear recognition of, a world-class product, with TV rights revenue in the region set to be reinvested to accelerate the global growth of the women’s game.”

That should not be a surprise. European nations dominated the last Women’s World Cup with Spain and England in the final, three of the semi-finalists coming from Europe and five of the last eight nations European.