On Wednesday, ESPN announced coverage plans for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, and while the company doesn’t have broadcast rights to the tournament, it will still be covering the tournament on its networks.
15 ESPN reporters and writers will be on-site in Australia and New Zealand, contributing to coverage on SportsCenter and ESPN.com. Former USWNT standout Ali Krieger also joins ESPN’s coverage, which includes appearances on SportsCenter and ESPN FC.
ESPN FC will also be a key part of ESPN’s coverage. In addition to the daily show, streaming at 6 PM ET on ESPN+, ESPN will roll out a different edition called ESPN FC: Women’s Soccer Special, which will air ten episodes live and on-demand on ESPN+ and ESPN’s linear networks.
Here’s a blurb on that.
ESPN and ESPN2 will combine to air ten one-hour editions of ESPN FC: Women’s Soccer Special – the English-language program of record previewing and recapping the 2023 Women’s World Cup matches. ESPN FC’s Dan Thomas and Kay Murray will share host duties alongside Krieger and a rotation of analysts such as Alejandro Moreno, Craig Burley, Shaka Hislop, Steve Nicol, and special guests. The ESPN FC: Women’s Soccer Specials airing on linear TV will stream simultaneously on ESPN+ and will live as VOD assets exclusively on ESPN+ throughout the tournament.
And here’s the schedule of those shows. All times are Eastern, and all can also be streamed on ESPN+.
- Wednesday, July 19th. 6 PM, ESPN
- Friday, July 21st. 6 PM, ESPN2
- Wednesday, July 26th. 7 PM, ESPN2
- Thursday, August 3rd. 6 PM, ESPN2
- Saturday, August 5th. 9 PM, ESPN2
- Sunday, August 6th. 10 AM, ESPN2
- Tuesday, August 8th. 11 PM, ESPN2
- Saturday, August 12th. 11 AM, ESPN2
- Wednesday, August 16th. 8 PM, ESPN2
- Sunday, August 20th. 1 PM, ESPN2
For a non-rightsholder, this is pretty much all a company can do.
[ESPN]
