Women’s Football On The Rise
Women’s football has been around for some time now; however, it has gone under the radar for most of it. In more recent times, the interest around the industry has picked up. Audiences are rising, sponsorship deals are becoming more valuable, and the industry is slowly becoming more “professional”. As of today, there is an abysmal difference between the men’s and women’s game from a business point of view. In women’s football, valuations, budgets, and investments are nowhere near the ones in men’s football. However, with the increasing awareness about the sport and the many institutions committed to its development, women’s football seems to be on the right path. In this article, we analyze the financial, the audience, and the sponsorship outlook of where the industry is and where it is heading.
Financial
As opposed to men’s, women’s football is still in the early stages of its economical development. Budgets in the industry are a fraction of the ones in men’s football, however, valuations are also a fraction of the men’s, making it an attractive opportunity for investors. Deloitte predicts that in 2021, the industry will be worth $1 billion and with the opportunity of more growth if the industry as a whole (federations, leagues, teams, sponsors, and regulators) continues to make significant investments.
With growing audiences, the value of TV rights and sponsorship agreements are rising as well. As opposed to before, when TV rights would be exchanged only for TV covering, now, deals are being struck for considerable amounts. For example, the BBC reportedly paid €10million for the rights to the Women’s Euro football competition in 2021 (now 2022) in England, and Canal Plus and TF1 jointly obtained rights for Euro 2021 for €13million in France.
Big names, like Real Madrid, who acquired CD Tacon for €500,000; or Manchester United, who invested £5 million to relaunch their women’s team, are making big efforts to grow women’s football as well. Champions League winners FC Barcelona Femení have invested a total of €8 million into their current squad. In Spain, the Women’s Association of Football Clubs (ACFF) announced a three-year deal worth €9 million for the rights to the first Spanish women’s football division, also known as Liga Iberdrola. In Italy, where women’s football is still amateur, the Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio (FIGC) has announced that starting the 2022/2023 season, “Serie A Femminile clubs will have to change the status of their women’s teams from amateur to professional”, a decision made possible thanks to the financial help provided by the Italian government.
Audience
As mentioned before, TV rights are one of the main revenue sources for the sport. The value of these rights depends greatly on the size of the audience, and currently, the numbers in women’s football have been rising considerably.
Recently, during the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup in France, a total of 1.475 billion people watched the tournament (TV and digital platforms combined) with the final being watched by 260 million people. The final was so popular in the US, that it achieved a 22% higher audience than the men’s WC final in 2018 (Deloitte). Other recent examples are England vs Germany in 2019, where 77,868 fans attended the game in Wembley. Also in that same year, 60,739 fans watched FC Barcelona Femení play Atletico Madrid at the Wanda Metropolitano stadium, and 38,262 football fans attended the women’s game between Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal.
Obviously, much of this growth has been affected by Covid, but it shows clear signs that women’s football is heading in the right direction and that the market for women’s football is there. Additionally, women’s football presents a great opportunity for media companies since the rights for these events are considerably cheaper than the men’s and the audiences are still of significant size.
Sponsorship
Women’s football is highly dependent on sponsorship when it comes to revenue. According to FIFA, only 13% of clubs generate revenue over $1 million, and more than half of those revenues come from sponsorship deals. In the past, women’s sponsorship deals would be sort of bundle up or included as a small part of the men’s sponsorship contract. Now, according to Deloitte, about 60% of women’s football teams in major leagues around the world have a different sponsor on their shirts than the men’s teams. This is in big part due to the increased awareness about the sport, especially since the last Women’s World Cup where record audiences were registered.
With men’s football approaching saturation point and sponsorship deals worth millions of dollars, women’s football presents a great opportunity for sponsors. These new deals can reach a market or audience that men’s football hasn’t been able to. In modern society, women have great buying power and brands can develop a relationship with these customers by associating themselves with a sport that women feel identified and included in. The benefits of the association go beyond the economical factors, brands will also benefit from the enhanced brand image of being associated with a cultural change and push for equality. A great example of this is Adidas, which sponsored six women’s teams at the last Women’s World Cup and announced it would offer equal performance bonuses for men’s and women’s teams. Additionally, the commercial rules or rights surrounding the industry are not as defined as with the men’s side, leaving room for more innovative and creative sponsorship campaigns.
Issues and Things to Improve
The major issue holding back women’s football is money. Salaries in women’s football are nowhere near the amounts in men’s football. FIFPro revealed that the average salary of a professional female footballer amounts to €8,162 per year. In the English Women’s Super League (WSL), the “women’s Premier League”, the average annual salary in 2020 is less than £35,000 a year. According to The Economist, “only 3,600 players can live from football at European level”, with many of the other players having to work a second job to be able to live.
Prize money is another area where women’s football is miles away from the men. Although it is true that in recent years prize money has gone up, it is still not even enough to cover costs in many cases. For example, the US national team received $4 million for winning the World Cup in 2019, whereas France men’s national team received $38 million for winning the World Cup the previous year. When it comes to the Champions League, the differences are even worst; the winner of the men’s competition receives €19 million, while the winner of the women’s receives €250,000. This however is not a claim for equal pay, it is just pointing out that for women’s football to grow, it will require big investments from federations, leagues, teams, sponsors, etc. FIFA and UEFA have both began to take measures to address these problems. FIFA aims to increase women’s participation in football to 60 million by 2026, and UEFA has plans to increase funding and turn football into women’s main sport in Europe. The fact that audiences are growing and that TV rights are being negotiated is a good sign that momentum is creating in the industry with hopes of improving these issues.
Some believe that developing a women’s team inside every well-established club is something crucial, as this would bring instant recognition and brand awareness to the women’s team just by being associated with the same organization as the men’s team. Teams would inherit an already existing fan base and the existence of traditional rivalries would help them create a more appealing product for fans, broadcasters, sponsors, etc. However, when doing this, women’s teams need to be able to “differentiate” or become “independent” from the men’s team, so to develop their own brand value and achieve a sustainable economic future.
Conclusion
Women’s football is starting to grow, and the data shows that there is a market for the sport. Football is the world’s most popular sport, and it could easily become the most popular among women’s sports as well. But, for this to happen, there need to be more investments from the industry’s stakeholders. It is nice to see organizations like FIFA and UEFA take measures to foster the sport from the grassroots level and not just at the top where money and rewards are the highest. However, this is not enough. The industry needs to be fully professionalized. Professional players must be able to live off football, training grounds and pitches need to be improved, and federations and leagues need to provide an environment where competitive football can be developed. Ultimately, if these things don’t improve, women’s football will suffer as a product and in turn, its growth will be affected.
