Donovan McNabb and the State of Football
The 2022 UEFA Women’s European Championship has drawn a total of 248,075 fans, setting a new record for attendance and showcasing the soaring popularity of women’s sports.
This year’s competition — taking place in England for the first time since 2005 — has sold roughly 500,000 tickets for a total of 31 games at 10 stadiums in nine cities.
- The results come with 15 games remaining in the tournament.
- The draw surpassed a previous record of 240,055 fans in 2017 in the Netherlands.
- Through its first 16 games, the competition has averaged 15,505 fans per game.
- 68,871 fans attended the England-Austria opener, a women’s Euro record.
The 16-team tournament, which has returned after a one-year pandemic-related delay, is projected to generate $65 million in revenue, according to English soccer’s Football Association. That would be nearly four times the revenue generated by 2017’s competition.
The projected increase is the result of higher ticket sales and media rights.
This year’s tournament airs in 195 countries and is expected to draw in more than 250 million viewers, compared to 178 million in 2017. BeIN Sports, ESPN, and BBC all hold rights.
Meteoric Rise
Women’s sports are estimated to be a $1 billion industry in the coming years, according to a 2020 Deloitte report. New media rights deals are expected to be the driving force for growth.
The women’s March Madness tournament could have a market value of up to $101 million per year, per the Kaplan Report.
