FIFA Continues To Build Women’s World Cup, Signs Unilever Brands As Sponsors

By Barry Janoff

May 12, 2023: Having already described it the “biggest standalone women’s sporting event in the world” as well as the  “largest tournament in Women’s World Cup history,” FIFA continues to raise the bar, signing Unilever personal care brands including Rexona, Dove, Lifebuoy and Lux as “official sponsors of the FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023.”

As part of the agreement, FIFA and Unilever will collaborate with FIFA’s Women’s Development Program. launched in 2020 to “provide opportunities for women and girls and supports the continued growth of women’s football around the globe.”

Unilever said it would “provide funding, human resources, and support for tailored development programs to tap into the upsurge in interest surrounding the women’s game.”

The alliance runs through 2027 — with the site of the FIFA Women's World Cup that year to be named in 2024 — and includes the FIFA Men's World Cup 2026 (co-hosted by the U.S., Canada and Mexico) and the FIFAe Finals.

FIFA said this is the first time it has joined with a personal care brands across women’s, men’s and FIFA eSports.

Financial terms were not disclosed.

With the 2023 Women’s World Cup July 20-Aug. 20 expanded to 32 nations, all 64 matches will be televised live and exclusively in the U.S. in English on Fox and Fox Sports platforms and in Spanish on NBCUniversal Telemundo and Universo — airing 33 and 31 matches, respectively — and live-stream on Peacock.

The tournament is expected to reach an estimated two billion people, with FIFA targeting 1.5 million attendees across the tournament’s 64 matches,

FIFA partners for the Women’s World Cup 2023 now include adidas, Anheuser-Busch (Budweiser), Coca-Cola, Globant, Unilever, Visa, Wanda Group and Xero.

“Working with the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023, our brands will connect with an enormous and highly engaged audience,” Fabian Garcia, personal care president at Unilever, said via the global company.

“This is a significant opportunity for them to engage a growing audience of women’s football fans, demonstrate relevance, and build brand power, while promoting gender equality in sports and supporting future generations of female athletes.”

The prize money for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup will increase by 300% to $150 million, FIFA president Gianni Infantino told delegates at the 73rd FIFA Congress in March, according to CNN.

While the Women’s World Cup prize money is now three times the 2019 figure and 10 times more than in 2015, prior to when Infantino became FIFA president, it is still considerably lower than the $440 million total prize money awarded at the men’s World Cup in Qatar last year.

Infantino made the prize money announcement in his closing remarks at the FIFA Congress, hailing an “historic journey for women’s football and for equality” that “will lead us to a path to equal pay,” according to CNN.

The FIFA collaboration will build on existing projects by Unilever brands, “which aim to have a positive impact on communities. Recent work has included Rexona’s Breaking Limits program, which provides funding for community sports and helps young people overcome barriers to being active,” according to Unilever.

The Dove Self-Esteem Project has been “inspiring body confidence in the next generation of girls since launching in 2004, reaching over 94 million young people to date.”

“Working with the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023, our brands will connect with an enormous and highly engaged audience."

Investing at all levels from grassroots to FIFA’s top tournaments, Unilever will have the opportunity to supply a  80,000 gift packs containing personal care products direct to fans at various FIFA events over the coming years.

 “Unilever has some of the world’s biggest and most impactful consumer brands, and we’re incredibly excited for them to join us on our journey to Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand,” FIFA secretary general, Fatma Samoura said via the organization.

“2023 is going to be a landmark moment for women’s football, and Unilever are the ideal sponsor to help us grow the game globally – this year and beyond.”

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