The Business of Women’s Football: From Suppression to Becoming A Global Phenomenon

In 1921, women’s football was banned for 50 years by the English FA because football was “unsuitable for females”

A year before the ban, a match by a group of fearless women had drawn a crowd of 53,000 spectators at Goodison Park.

But not everyone was enthused.

Dr. Mary Scharlieb, a pioneer British female physician and gynecologist, shared her concerns about the game's physicality, saying: “Football is a most unsuitable game, too much for a woman’s physical frame.”

Her words echoed the sentiments of many who believed women should return to their pre-war roles.

So on December 5, 1921, a decision was reached at a meeting at the Football Association’s headquarters in London.

The FA banned women from playing on their grounds, casting a long shadow over the future of women’s football.

The impact is immediate and devastating. The Dick, Kerr Ladies, once drawing crowds of over 50,000, find themselves without grounds to play on.

In defiance of the ban, around 30 teams from across England met in Liverpool on December 10, 1921, to form the English Ladies Football Association (ELFA). Their goal: to “popularise the game among girls and to assist charity.”

But without access to proper facilities and stripped of official recognition, the women’s game struggled to maintain its momentum.

For nearly five decades, women’s football was relegated to public parks and makeshift pitches.

The sport that once captivated thousands becomes a whisper, kept alive by the passion of those who refuse to give up.

The story is different now.

In 2023, the FIFA Women’s World Cup generated $570 million. A whopping 48.7% of the body’s total revenue for the year.

The tournament set a new record with nearly two million tickets sold, and the average attendance rate across the 64 matches was 87%.

It also generated $1.32 billion in economic impact for Australia.

But it’s not just international tournaments that are thriving.

Leagues across the globe are experiencing unprecedented growth.

• The Barclays Women’s Super League (WSL) in England has seen a staggering 40% increase in attendance during the first half of the current season compared to the 2022/2023 season, with an average crowd of 7,308 per game.
• Germany’s Google Pixel Frauen-Bundesliga, Spain’s Liga F, and France’s D1 Arkema have all seen significant rises in attendance, with increases of 6%, 8%, and 14% respectively.
• WSL clubs generated £48m in aggregate revenue in the 2022/23 season, a 50% increase from the previous year.
• Globally, the number of women and girls playing organized football has increased by nearly a quarter compared to 2019, reaching 16.6 million.
• Sponsorship deals are flourishing, with 34% of women’s top-tier senior domestic competitions now having a dedicated women’s football sponsor.

This transformation has opened up many business opportunities: talent management to specialized sports gear, content and media partnerships, and software.

In this week’s edition of the UNTITLED newsletter, we’ll explore the business side of women’s football following its rise from suppression to becoming a global phenomenon.

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