UEFA says value of women's club football about to go up dramatically

A new report from

UEFA

says that women's club football in Europe is at "a critical juncture," but it can reach amazing heights over the next ten years.

According to the governing body of European football, its commercial value could grow sixfold to €686 million by 2033, and club sponsorship could grow to €295 million at the same time.

Professional leagues in Europe are still in their early stages of growth. This is shown by the fact that international player transfers cost more than €2 million for the first time last year.

UEFA released its "Business Case for Women's Football" on Tuesday. The women's game plans to use the success of international tournaments like Euro 2022 to attract fans and investors to clubs and leagues that are sometimes struggling to stay alive.

The report said stakeholders have "an extraordinary chance to develop and professionalize women's football in Europe over the next decade by investing now" to unlock "enormous potential."

The report's authors said the information would help people "make informed decisions and invest on the scale needed." UEFA said that past data in this area, which looked at the possibility of future growth, gave an "inconsistent and incomplete" picture of what might happen in the years to come. It said that the size of its research and data investigations this time was "unprecedented."

Nadine Kessler, who used to play as a forward for Germany and is now the head of women's football for UEFA, said that the game is "on an incredibly exciting trajectory." Kessler said, "The women's game has unlimited potential, and we think we're on track to take it to heights that were unthinkable just a few years ago."

"As this report shows, now is the time to take advantage of the momentum we've built together to get involved and invest." The research showed that a band with 144 million fans now could have 328 million fans in 10 years. Followers were said to be "diverse, progressive, and young," and it was found that almost one-third of women's football fans were new to the sport.

's president,

Jean-Michel Aulas

, said that there might be losses in the short term but gains in the long term. Aulas, an early supporter of women's sports, said, "In the beginning, you will have to lose to get to a certain level and be successful. Over time, the investment will bring the club a lot of good things, like new sponsors and a different kind of fan base.

That was reflected in the report, which said that the "majority" of leagues and teams are losing money and need help from club owners or the budgets of men's teams to stay in business. About 87% of integrated clubs said that working with women's clubs had helped their reputations. According to UEFA's research, 70% of women's clubs and 50% of leagues want to be self-sufficient within the next ten years.

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