From 0 - 100: The Rise of Women's Football Loyalty
Earlier this week, a heartwarming story was making front-page news. It was about an American tourist who accidentally got on a boat hundreds of Southend fans and ended up as a life-long Shrimper.
Obviously, the setup of this story is amazing – but it raises a point about how hard it is for football clubs acquire new fans. Most fans of men's football are the product of years of heritage – you support the same team as your dad, you grew up near a certain club, you fell in love with Gazza aged 8, etc. Probably, your best bet for acquiring new fans who will “buy” into your product is targeting an international fan base (or luring them on to a boat!)
Three years ago, I was dimly aware of women's football and had no connection to a club. On Saturday, I went on a behind-the-scenes WSL tour at Stamford Bridge (see pic) and had the best time. I picked Chelsea Football Club because they were local and they had some of my favourite Lionesses! Women's football fans don’t always have years of heritage - some do, for sure, but others like me have just had to pick a team.
Women's football fans can be created almost overnight. It is possible to recruit new women's football fans and ‘sell’ your product to them immediately. If you base the success of the women’s game on traditional metrics like ticket sales or broadcast rights alone, you will see only part of the picture. Research with 7,000 fans conducted across seven countries by Visa in September 2024 found:
Over half of women’s football fans (53%) have developed their interest in the game in the last three years alone
Almost half (44%) of fans expect to increase their engagement significantly in the next three years.
Fans of the women’s game have higher purchasing power, spending 71% more on sports merchandise and 41% more on entertainment than the general UK population.
This last stat is particularly interesting to me – women’s football fans are not only acquirable and getting more engaged, they also have more money to spend. If we take this out of the realm of what football clubs can do to attract and retain new women’s football fans (which is vital btw), it feels like there is also a strong commercial opportunity for other brands to build lasting relationships with a highly engaged audience. For example, with the women’s Euros coming up this summer - and data that shows that women’s football fans are willing to spend more on entertainment - it would be good to see pubs and hospitality venues actively engaging women’s fans and following the lead or, better yet, collaborating with the likes of the Set Piece Social to create safe and inclusive spaces for fans of women's sport to watch matches.
I love thinking about how brands can get to know women’s football fans, better meet their needs, and capitalise on the opportunities they present – so let’s chat if this is something you are thinking about too!
