DFB Women Before EM – But Who Cares? Give the game a platform!

With the win against Serbia, DFB Women can buy their tickets for the 2023 World Cup in Australia. Prior to this, the European Championship will be held in England this year. didn’t you know? And that is the problem.

A win against a straight chaser from Serbia, so that’s perfect: qualification for the 2023 World Cup in Australia. After a 3-0 win over Portugal over the weekend, coach Martina Vos-Tecklenburg’s team is looking to book a trip to the other end of the world soon.

But there’s a major sporting event due this year, and just a few months more: the Women’s European Championships in England, before the DFB women’s plane heads to Australia next year.

The women’s tournament had to be given way due to the coronavirus pandemic and the postponement of the men’s European Championships to the summer of 2021. In July, however, the time has come and the DFB women will meet Spain, Denmark and Finland in the group stage.

Be honest: did you know that? right now.

The women’s national team has once again disappeared from the public eye. it’s sad. But there are many reasons for this.

1) Frustration of the game

It’s been almost three years since the DFB Women played an important sporting tournament. At the 2019 World Cup in France, however, they were knocked out of Sweden in the quarter-finals – and thus missed qualifying for the 2021 Olympics. A competition that would have been great for the young team around Lena Oberndorf, Clara Buhl. and the Joule brand.

Lena Magul: The national player along with her teammates missed the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo. (Source: PMK/ImagoImages)

However, the DFB team has had hardly any tests against opponents on the same level in recent times, such as the last time against Spain (draw), Canada (bankruptcy) and England (bankruptcy) in the Arnold Clark Cup. . In qualifying for the World Cup, all seven games were won – with a goal difference of +32. Aside from manageable successes against strong teams, sporting appeal is only part of the problem.

2) Bad Marketing

Do you know Felicitas Rauch, Jana Feldkamp or Nicole Anomie? No? These three international matches were played against Portugal on Saturday and are included in the top players of the Bundesliga. Alone: ​​Public interest in the highest German division of women seems negligible.

Cheer for the DFB Women: Goal scorers Felicitas Rauch (left), Svenja Huth and Giulia Gwynne celebrate a 3-0 goal against Portugal. (Source: Photo2Press/ImagoImages)

All Bundesliga games are now broadcast live. However, most sports are behind a payment barrier (MagentaSport). Eurosport shows Friday evening’s games on free TV (and not always) and the third program broadcasts selected highlight games, such as the top game against FC Bayern (6–0) Wolfsburg last on the Bayerischer Rundfunk on Sunday.

Nevertheless, those responsible do not succeed in breaking out of the shadow of men’s football and placing women’s football in the prominence, which brings us to the third point.

3) Media lapse

First: Pay TV broadcaster Sky’s commitment is to be commended. The provider is showing selected games from the Women’s DFB Cup from this season and the Women’s Premier League in England from next season. But how many people will watch the game in the end?

There is a demand for broadcasters with a large reach, who will soon take us to public broadcasters. From this season onwards, at least the top game summaries can be seen on Saturday evening sports shows, but ARD and ZDF still have room for improvement as far as live sports are concerned.

Klaus Luffen (left) and Nia Kunzer: Moderators and world champions have been an ARD pairing for women’s football for years. (Source: Jan Heubner/Imago Images)

Because some international matches can only be watched live stream and not on Linear TV, including the first leg of qualifying against Portugal last November or games in the Four Nations tournament. One big problem: sometimes unfriendly kick-off times. The match against Serbia will also take place today at 4 pm. on a weekday Tuesday. Who is watching this? Who can see it?

Not only TV stations, but also newspapers such as “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung” or “Welt” reports on DFB women to a negligible extent. And even with news portals like “Spiegel” or T-Online, the limit of what’s possible certainly hasn’t been reached yet.

The fact that women’s football is attracting interest cannot be denied. This was shown by recent Champions League games, where stadiums (27,000 in Paris, more than 90,000 in Barcelona) were well packed.

Broadcasters, associations and media professionals can only appeal to this: Dare – and finally give sport a visible platform.