Women’s sport has long been locked behind inaccessibility, with fewer broadcasting companies willing to spend significant money on media rights for women’s events than they are for men’s sport. However, the success of the women’s national team at the Euros may be a significant step in turning this issue of inaccessibility around, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

GlobalData’s latest report, ‘Women in Sport – Thematic Research’, reveals that during the 2020-21 season of the Women’s Super League, viewership had increased by 542% under the new TV deal agreed between BBC and Sky Sports, which saw the league distributed on both a free-to-air and pay-TV channel.

Tanveer Aujla, Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Having a free-to-air network broadcasting the top tier of women’s soccer in the UK has done wonders for its visibility, and that in turn has sparked interest which has driven viewership of the league on Sky Sports. The league is a perfect example of how a balance struck between free-to-air and pay TV can be extremely beneficial for the visibility of a league.”

Interest on the women’s sport will be driven even further in the UK with the England women’s national team triumphant campaign at the 2022 European Championships. The success is likely to drive interest and excitement surrounding the women’s game, with many of the players now becoming household names, which will allow them to build their public profiles and drive potential sponsorship opportunities.

Aujla continues: “More soccer fans in the UK are likely to have an interest in the next season of the Women’s Super League, driven by the presence of England’s winning team in the league. This will also drive increased participation of young girls into sport, which has often been a problem for women’s sport due to funding issues and lack of infrastructure availability.”

These developments present a significant change in the fortunes of women’s soccer in the UK, given the financial damage that COVID-19 pandemic wreaked on the game. Many prominent soccer players expressed concerns that their teams would go bust under the financial strain and urged for more support from the government and relevant governing bodies.

Aujla concludes: “The number of supporters for women’s sport is growing, as evidenced by comments from prominent athletes such as Justin Rose championing a more equal footing for men’s and women’s sport. The recent success for soccer in the UK is likely to drive women’s sport even higher up the agenda for many key stakeholders, as they realise how valuable is women’s sport in the overall sporting ecosphere.”