FOX has announced plans to air more than 60 features covering the women and teams participating in the 2015 World Cup this summer in Canada. The features will be shown intermediately during the network’s World Cup coverage on FOX, FOX Sports 1 and FOX Sports 2, distributed throughout FOX’s social media and will be available to on demand at FOXSports.com.
These are intimate stories that Emmy Award winner Jennifer Pransky, Coordinating Producer for the Features Division, is able to capture and shows these women not just as soccer players for their respective national teams but as siblings and daughters who have worked hard and endured numerous struggles to obtain the successes they have today.
“The level of athleticism and training these women put into the FIFA Women’s World Cup is astounding, but their stories don’t end with the endless hours on the field,” said David Neal, FIFA Women’s World Cup on FOX Executive Producer. The features are a way to explore these women that most fans do not get to see in the typical run-ups to major women’s tournaments.
“We’ve spent over a year coming to know many of the women playing in this tournament, and we can’t wait for America to learn more about them through the work of the talented people in our unit,” said Pransky. Pransky also goes on to talk about one feature in particular, a story that focuses solely on USWNT midfielder Megan Rapinoe. The story talks about Rapinoe’s personal life, and how her art helped shape her into who she is today.
These features do not just highlight players from the United States, they bring into focus women from Germany, the defending champions of the Japanese Women’s National team, as well as Sweden’s head coach Pia Sundhage and whether the Women’s National team is finally on the same level as the Men’s National team in the United States.
Although this is FOX’s first major tournament since winning the broadcasting rights to FIFA tournaments, they are putting out all the stops with complete coverage of the entire tournament leading up to kick-off on June 6th. This series is only one small part of what FOX has planned for coverage and what the network wants to accomplish this summer in Canada.
