Is rugby making more money than soccer? Two years ahead of the event, World Rugby announced in a press release that the TF1 group had acquired exclusive rights to the Women’s World Cup in 2025. It will take place from August 22 to September 27 in England, and will be the first ever 16-team finals. “The TF1 Group is continuing its commitment to raising the profile of women’s rugby,” explains a press release from the French channel. The contract signed with World Rugby covers not only the Women’s World Cup in 2025, but also the WXV, the new women’s competition set to pit the world’s best nations against each other. Already the broadcaster of the last Women’s World Cup, held last year in New Zealand, TF1 also holds the rights to the 2023 Men’s World Cup in France. Public broadcaster France Télévisions, meanwhile, holds the rights to broadcast the men’s and women’s Six Nations Tournaments until 2025. The media appeal of the Women’s Rugby World Cup is in stark contrast to the difficulties encountered by FIFA in selling the rights in part of Europe, including France, to the 2023 Women’s World Cup, to be held in Australia and New Zealand.
