EVERYONE IS WELCOME
FLYING THE FLAG IN LESS TRADITIONAL MEN’S FOOTBALL MARKETS I n other markets that are perceived as less traditional centres for men’s football – such as China and Mexico – a higher proportion
clocked in 2018 – then an all-time global record – in 2022 that milestone fell, with 52,654 fans going to watch the first match of the Apertura final between Tigres and Club America. More than that, 5.3 million people watched it across television and streaming platforms. As in the US, fans in these other markets are
also less weighed down by ‘traditional’ male- dominated views of football, and therefore more inclined to see women’s football as a core element of the football landscape. Women’s football has the potential in these markets to become even more popular, just as we see in the USA.
of fans are interested in both men’s and women’s football than is seen in more ‘mature’ football markets in Europe. Many fans in these markets also see the women’s team they support as of equal importance to the men’s team they follow – 75% in China and 62% in Mexico. Indeed, both China and Mexico have played an important part in the development of women’s football; China hosted the first-ever official FIFA Women’s World Cup in 1991 (formally titled the First FIFA World Championship for Women’s Football for the M&Ms Cup) and reached the final of the third edition in 1999; Mexico hosted the famous unofficial Women’s World Cup in 1971, with matches selling out the historic Azteca Stadium. More recently, Mexico have been building strong links with their near neighbours in the USA, with the Mexican national team playing NWSL teams in friendlies that attract tens of thousands of fans. Attendances are strong and growing domestically as well; in the Liga MX Femenil, records are being set and broken. After a highest club match attendance of 51,211 was
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