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With less than a week to go until the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, brands and streaming services are sharing more details on their plans for the highly anticipated event.
If you’ve been too busy vacationing working to keep up, here’s what you missed.
Coverage: Fox Sports, which has US broadcasting rights for the event, was 90% sold out of its ad inventory a month ago. NBCUniversal’s Telemundo division will be airing Spanish-language coverage on its Telemundo and Universo channels, as well as streaming on Peacock.
- Peter Lazarus, NBC Sports’s EVP of advertising sales and partnerships, said during a press briefing that the network is “virtually sold out” of ad inventory.
- Ford is the presenting sponsor for the pregame show, Volkswagen is the presenting sponsor for the halftime show, and Xfinity is presenting the Zona Mixta sports news show, according to Lazarus.
- “There’s no doubt in the momentum around women’s sports and the desire for brands to be part of the major women’s sporting events,” Lazarus said.
Meanwhile, Roku is making the tournament available on its devices via the “Women’s Sports Zone,” which rolled out in May. Apartments.com is serving as its first official sponsor. On the social front, FIFA has struck a content partnership with TikTok for the event.
Campaigns: Not all brands opted to run commercials alongside the broadcast coverage, making media tangential to the tournament a hot commodity.
Frito-Lay, a North American tournament supporter and official USA snack, opted for a more traditional approach with a TV spot that started running July 12 and will continue to air online and during the broadcast through Aug. 20.
- The ad features current players like Julie Ertz, Mallory Swanson, and Crystal Dunn, as well as iconic former USWNT members like Lloyd, Mia Hamm, Abby Wambach, and Brandi Chastain.
- Frito-Lay is also hosting a free, in-person watch party in Texas with Fox Sports on July 21, conducting a giveaway on Twitter, and creating social content with soccer media company Copa90.
Other brands like Ally will also air ads during the broadcast while rolling out social campaigns.
+1: The past year or so has marked something of a turning point for women’s sports in terms of both brand and viewer interest.
- Women’s March Madness scored record-breaking viewership.
- Disney and ESPN actively started pitching a women’s sports sponsorship framework.
- Companies dedicated specifically to pairing brands with women athletes are on the rise.
Developments like those should be on display at this year’s World Cup.