October 30 – FIFA will double prize money for the Women’s World Cup, but will fall short of reaching gender equality.
At the 2023 finals in Australia and New Zealand, just over $100 million was on offer for the teams. That figure will be doubled to $220 million for Brazil, about a third of what the men’s team in the US, Mexico and Canada benefitted from.
Last summer, FIFA claimed a record revenue of $15 billion following the organisation of the supersized, 48-team 2026 World Cup, but the prize money, according to The Guardian and Sky. Next year’s Women’s World Cup in Brazil falls well short of the men’s equivalent, missing a target of gender equality FIFA boss Gianni Infantino had set the organization. At this summer’s tournament, the men’s teams shared a prize pot of $655 million.
In 2023, with broadcast deals struggling to be concluded (most broadcasters believed they had already bought the rights with their Men’s World Cup buys) Infantino lashed out at broadcasters, saying: “Our ambition would, of course, to be able to have equality in payments for the 2026 men’s and 2027 Women’s World Cup.
“This is the objective we set to ourselves. FIFA is stepping up with actions not just with words… but unfortunately this is not the case with everyone across the industry. Broadcasters and sponsors, dear friends, have to do more in this respect.”
His complaint, just weeks before the finals were to kick off, did not impress or move the commercial marketplace, but had angered many who generally had invested more in their domestic women’s game than FIFA had in the international women’s game.
FIFA earlier confirmed that the 2027’s Women’s World Cup teams will receive the same preparation money from as those who played at the men’s tournament. The money will be doubled to $2.5 million per team.
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