The women’s game is on an upward trajectory, with unprecedented ticket demand and burgeoning broadcast ratings offering an indication of its revenue potential as a standalone product. For instance, the decision to relocate the Australian women’s national team’s 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup opener from Sydney’s 42,500-capacity Allianz Stadium to the larger 83,500-seater Stadium Australia demonstrates how far the global showpiece has come.
The Matildas kick off their tournament campaign against the Republic of Ireland on 20th July as co-hosts New Zealand take on Norway at Auckland’s 47,000-capacity Eden Park, the venue which hosted their compatriots victory over England to be crowned Women’s Rugby World Cup champions last November, in front of a record 42,000 spectators for a women’s final.
This uptick in women’s ticket sales hasn’t come about by accident either. The winds are changing and can be seen across the domestic club game, too. For example, the Lionesses’ victory over Germany in the UEFA Women’s Euro 2022 final sparked a 200 per cent rise in average attendances at the start of English football’s 2022/23 Barclays Women’s Super League (WSL) season.
Meanwhile, a progress report for the English Football Association’s (The FA) women’s football strategy, published in November, showed a 17 percent increase in female affiliated players across all levels of the domestic game since October 2021, as well as a 30 percent increase in female registered football teams, and a 15 percent increase in female youth teams between ages five to 18 during the same period.
“The rate of growth across the women’s game over the past year demonstrates the power of major tournaments to drive domestic interest in women’s football,” explains Arianna Criscione, N3XT Sports Director of Women’s Football. “However, there is no room for complacency when the stakes are this high. Although the future looks promising for women’s football, there is more work that can be done to sustain peak participation and audience growth.”
WOMEN’S FOOTBALL DEMONSTRATING ‘SUBTLE-BUT-CRUCIAL SHIFTS’
While the headlines will focus on women’s football’s biggest prize and the opportunity for growth in regional markets, it is important to acknowledge the changes already happening inside women’s football’s leading markets. Not only are ticket sales on the rise, the digital and marketing efforts being embedded at club level present what Criscione describes as “subtle-but-crucial shifts” in football’s attitude towards the women’s game and the opportunity to grow engagement and retain audiences across both the men’s and women’s products through collaboration.
1. Investment in the academy structure is taking place across the women’s youth and girl’s game. While many of the top clubs in Europe have implemented their own women’s academy structures to develop female players, the Mexican Football Federation (FMF) introduced plans to develop a youth development squad within every Liga MX Femenil club, composed of players aged 17 or below. The league’s technical director, Mariana Gutiérrez, said that nurturing a new generation of players “goes hand in hand” with an increase in competition and sponsorship. In England, the FA WSL Academy League comprises a high volume of dedicated academy teams (91.6 percent). By comparison, the majority of clubs in Australia’s A-League Women top flight and the NWSL, in the US, rely on regional and school programs for talent identification and player development, highlighting a need and opportunity for developing their respective grassroots infrastructures.
2. Every club in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) has a dedicated channel on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and YouTube. As outlined in our 2022 World Cup Data Report, published in November, social media engagement demonstrates a “certain level of digital maturity”, according to N3XT Sports’ Marketing and Communications Director, Bea Indurain. By comparison, only four clubs competing in A-League Women, Australia’s top-flight for women’s football, have a dedicated presence on social media, citing an opportunity to grow audience engagement beyond the FIFA Women’s World Cup. Of the five platforms, Instagram and Twitter are the social platforms which are utilized the most in Mexico’s Liga MX Feminil, Spain’s Liga F, England’s WSL, and the NWSL. Meanwhile, TikTok and YouTube are utilized the least, despite both being among the fastest growing social media networks between 2020 to 2022.
3. The world’s top clubs continue to integrate their women’s products into their digital memberships. For example, the vast majority of WSL clubs (91.6 percent) enable subscribers to purchase tickets to men’s and women’s fixtures via a unique customer profile, helping club teams to better understand what motivates their women’s football fans and allows for cross-collaboration between the men’s and women’s products. However, only 41.6 percent of WSL teams provide subscribers access to their entire digital inventory via a single sign-on (SSO). This will become increasingly important as clubs develop their fan intelligence and customer relationship management (CRM) capabilities. By integrating their women’s products as part of an SSO experience, it is easier for clubs to measure the impact of the women’s game on other revenue streams, including, for example, which fans buy merchandise on the back of purchasing a ticket to a WSL fixture.
WHAT’S N3XT?
This year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup is taking the pinnacle of women’s football to a new destination and marks the first hosted by two confederations. While the spectacle will bring new excitement and exposure to the women’s game on a global scale, its legacy doesn’t only belong to the growth of the national team game. The development of the club ecosystem, across all markets, is where the women’s football segment will experience the biggest gains in revenue generation and audience participation.
“Investment in the domestic club game is vital for the sustainable growth of women’s football,” Criscione continues, “While important for improving club infrastructure and embedding performance pathways, by driving fan engagement and boosting gate revenues, clubs will be better placed to negotiate broadcast and sponsorship deals that make the biggest difference, providing the women’s game with the return on investment (ROI) and commercial independence it deserves.”
At N3XT Sports, we work with football organizations and stakeholders to integrate business strategies that seed audience growth, while increasing team and operational performance. To learn more about how Arianna Criscione and our Women’s Football service can support the growth of your organization, please fill out the form below and she’ll be in touch. We look forward to hearing from you.