After a one-year pandemic-related delay, the 2022 UEFA Women’s European Championship begins Wednesday.
Around 500,000 tickets have been sold, more than doubling the record 240,000 fans who attended the 2017 edition in the Netherlands.
- This year’s competition takes place in England, marking the first time the country has held a women’s soccer tournament since 2005.
- The 31 games will be held at 10 stadiums across nine cities.
English soccer’s Football Association expects the 16-team tournament to be “the biggest women’s European sport event in history,” generating an estimated $65 million in revenue — nearly four times as much as the last tournament — due to higher ticket sales and media and commercial rights.
Last year, UEFA announced it would double its prize fund for the tournament to $18.75 million and include guaranteed payments for each team. The competition’s sponsors include Adidas, Nike, Visa, and Heineken.
The tournament will air in 195 territories and is expected to bring in more than 250 million viewers, up from 178 million in 2017. BeIN Sports and ESPN will broadcast in the majority of countries, with BBC holding rights in the United Kingdom.
Record Attendance
The influx of fans for the women’s tournament comes as no surprise. Barcelona twice broke the world’s attendance record for a women’s game in April. Club attendance records were also broken in France and England last season.
