Female soccer players are changing the trajectory of the sport’s future as women’s soccer is experiencing unprecedented growth in both the US and Europe.
Women’s soccer is becoming more global as international players like Canadian national player Christine Sinclair, Spain national player Esther Gonzáles, Brazil national player and soccer legend Marta and many more have begun playing in the United States in the NWSL. USWNT players like Lindsey Horan, Emily Fox and Korbin Albert play overseas in Europe. With multiple leagues around the world, women have more opportunities to play at a higher level than they ever had before. International players like Sam Kerr at Chelsea and Aitana Bonmatíat FC Barcelona have also grown their profiles abroad to new heights.
The Women’s Super League in England is one of the top Women’s Leagues in the world. With a massive increase in viewership and attendance in recent seasons, one could only assume the popularity of England’s women’s league will continue to grow.
The biggest increase in attendance for the Women’s Super League was in the 2019-20 season where they demolished the previous attendance record. In the 2018-19, the attendance record was 5,265. One year later 38,262 fans came out to support Arsenal vs Tottenham. After the 2023-24 season, the attendance record is an astonishing 60,160. The league average is just over 7,300 fans in attendance.
In the 2023-24 season, before they began streaming the games on YouTube, the highest viewership they reached was 78,050. Just last month they had more than a quarter of a million people tune in to watch Arsenal take on Leicester. In the three weeks of games, viewership has reached 1,576,848 in total. Arsenal has been the WSL’s most popular team, having an average attendance of over 26,000 last season.
With the growth of the WSL, there was a second division introduced. In the first two seasons of WSL history, there was no second league for a team to be relegated to. The addition of a second division added more teams and a promotion and relegation system.
The German women’s league, Frauen-Bundesliga, has also experienced significant growth in number of fans attending the games. Since the 2021-22 season, compared to all women’s leagues across Europe, the Frauen-Bundesliga saw the greatest increase in attendance at +221% from the 2021-22 season to the 2022-23 season.
Starting in the 2021-22 season, the German league struggled to average 850 fans in attendance. In just a few seasons, they have surpassed that mark and jumped to an average of almost 2900 fans watching from the stadium.
The French women’s league, D1 Arkema, has seen the least amount of growth in recent seasons. Last season was the first time they have averaged slightly more than 1000 fans in attendance. The most fans they had in attendance for the season was 15,899 when Paris Saint Germain took on Lyon.
Liga F, the women’s league in Spain, has also seen tremendous growth in recent years. The influence of Alexia Putellas and Aitana Bonmatí, two superstars seen on Spain’s national team and Barcelona can not go unnoticed. Putellas won back-to-back Ballon d’Ors in 2021-22 before handing it off to teammate Bonmatí for her to also win back-to-back Ballon d’Ors.
In the 2021-22 season, Liga F could not average more than 700 fans in attendance. Since then, they have increased their attendance to 1,500 last season. The biggest turnout they had last season saw 38,000 fans walk through the stadium doors to see Barcelona take on Real Madrid.
With Barcelona being back-to-back UEFA Women’s Champions League champions, their attendance ranks top five through all major women’s leagues across Europe.
The UEFA Women’s Champions League, founded in 2001, has taken major strides in growing its popularity over the past few seasons. With easier access to stream the games due to having multiple platforms allowing viewers to watch the games, viewership has skyrocketed.
In the 2022/23 final, there was a 40% increase in viewership compared to the previous year. 5.1 million fans tuned in to watch Barcelona take on Wolfsburg, eventually ending in Barcelona taking home the title.
In the 2023/24 final, the growth in popularity continued. A record-breaking sell out crowd of 50,827 fans gathered to watch Barcelona become back-to-back champions. In addition to a record-breaking crowd, 3.6 million viewers watched from the comfort of their home.
In the opening game of the 2024-25 season, Barcelona and Manchester City fans sold out a highly anticipated game by two of the best women’s clubs in Europe.
Four matches will be played tomorrow in the Women’s Champions League:
- Galatasaray vs VfL Wolfsburg at 12:45 P.M. ET
- Real Madrid vs FC Twente 12:45 P.M. ET
- Celtic vs Chelsea at 3 P.M. ET
- Roma vs Lyon at 3 P.M. ET
