Ryan Bridge talks to Bonnie Jansen and Winston Aldworth after Liam Lawson is forced to retire from Canadian Grand Prix.
New Zealand football fans will be unable to watch the Uefa European Women’s Championship next month as Kiwi broadcasters have declined the opportunity to stream the event.
The pinnacle European football tournament in Switzerland, starting on July 3, will stream across 138 countries, including 44 in Europe – but NewZealand, Japan, China, South Korea, Indonesia and the other Pacific Island nations have missed out.
It comes two years after Aotearoa co-hosted the Fifa Women’s World Cup with Australia, breaking significant attendance records and garnering increased interest in the women’s game.
“For TVNZ as a free, commercially funded broadcaster, we’re not in a position to be able to secure all sports rights. We pick and choose, and our decisions will always be based on what rights are available in market, where we can support local, and what our audience would like to see.”
Sky Sport, which secured the broadcast rights to the Women’s Fifa World Cup in 2023, said: “As with all rights decisions, we consider a variety of factors to ensure we are making choices that make financial and strategic sense.”
Sky said the significant time zone difference between Switzerland and New Zealand was a key consideration when assessing the “potential viewership and engagement”.
The comment contradicts their broadcast of this month’s men’s Uefa Nations League, where kickoff was at 7am.
The Euros group stage fixtures are scheduled mainly for 4am and 7am NZT.
Warner Bros Discovery, which operates Three NOW, also told the Herald it didn’t consider owning the coverage.
Uefa – which has been approached for comment – is reporting that this tournament is expected to be the most impactful yet, following an unprecedented event in England three years ago.
It is anticipating a total attendance of 550,000 fans, with roughly 137,000 of them being international fans. It’s expected to deliver €192 million ($319m) of activity to the Swiss economy.
Aitana Bonmatí (Spain), Alexia Putellas (Spain), Alessia Russo (England), Vivianne Miedema (Netherlands) and Caroline Graham Hansen (Norway) are all set to star in the 2025 edition.
Ballon d'Or winner Aitana Bonmatí will look to carry Spain to more silverware. Photo / Photosport
England’s Lionesses, the defending champions and World Cup runners-up, have been placed in Group D. Touted as the pool of death, they’ll take on France, the Netherlands and Wales.
Group A is made up of hosts, Switzerland, Iceland, Norway and Finland.
World Champions Spain are in Group B with Portugal, Belgium and Italy.
Germany, Denmark, Poland and Sweden make up Group C.
Bonnie Jansen is a multimedia journalist in the NZME sports team. She was named New Zealand’s Best Up and Coming journalist in 2025. She’s a football commentator and co-host of the Football Fever podcast and was part of the Te Rito cadetship scheme before becoming a fulltime journalist.
