CONCLUSION
This is a time of great opportunity for women’s football. The international competitions have grabbed huge public attention, and the domestic game can capitalise. There are, of course, some challenges. Women’s teams still find themselves with limited resources; they have fewer chances to play at the club’s main stadia, meaning fewer chances to promote and market to a big audience; and they often have fewer dedicated marketing and communications staff compared to men’s teams. And though women’s football’s huge peak audiences demonstrate the potential the game has for even greater success, regular engagement from fans is currently
more modest, with many rather more passive in their interest.
Yet in spite of these obstacles, as this report has outlined, fans think of themselves as keen to consume even more women’s football. Those massive peak attendances, those buzzing social media trends and web searches – it’s a very good indicator that fans are correct when they say they expect that they’ll become even more interested in the women’s game in the seasons to come. Fans in markets less traditionally associated with men’s football might be less weighed down by negative pre-conceptions about the women’s game, meaning they might be more prepared to engage with it. However, clubs in European markets have an opportunity to
66
Made with FlippingBook interactive PDF creator