In a historic development for women’s sports, the 2024 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles will feature 16 teams in the women’s football tournament—marking the first time in Olympic history that women will be more prominently represented than men in the global sporting arena.
The expansion of the women’s football competition, from 12 teams to 16, signals a significant milestone in the sport’s increasing popularity worldwide. This expansion contrasts sharply with the men’s tournament, where the number of teams remains at 16, highlighting the growth of women’s football on a global scale.
In Europe, the rise of women’s football is especially notable, with some clubs attracting larger crowds and more revenue than their male counterparts. This contrasts with Japan’s WE League, which, despite being launched in 2021, continues to struggle with attendance and financial stability. The WE League, which stands for Women’s Empowerment League, has faced challenges in reaching its full potential.
Europe’s Expanding Women’s Football Market
The burgeoning popularity of women’s football in Europe was vividly showcased during the 2022 UEFA Women’s Champions League. In March 2022, Barcelona hosted Real Madrid at Camp Nou in an all-Spanish clash, drawing a record-breaking 91,553 spectators—a higher turnout than some men’s games in Spain. Just a month later, Barcelona’s clash with Germany’s Wolfsburg saw 91,648 fans fill the stadium, setting a new world record for a women’s football match.
Since turning professional in 2015, Barcelona’s women’s team has made significant strides both on and off the field. The team now boasts over 13 million followers across various social media platforms, aided by a fan-focused approach that features female players in equal representation with male players in promotional materials. This strategy has paid off, with the women’s team expected to generate around 23 million euros this season, a figure comparable to a first-division men’s J-League team in Japan.
Barcelona’s bold investments in women’s football—focusing on high-quality players, state-of-the-art training facilities, and dedicated staff—have paid dividends in terms of sponsorships, ticket sales, and jersey sales. As Judit Farre, head of Barcelona Women’s Business Operations, put it: “Women’s football goes far beyond CSR and holds immense business potential.”
Farre also expressed interest in expanding the team’s business horizons, specifically eyeing the Japanese market as a potential growth area.
Challenges in Japan’s WE League
While Europe’s women’s football scene has flourished, Japan’s WE League still faces growing pains. Despite having been in operation for three seasons, the WE League has yet to meet its attendance goals, with an average crowd of 1,723 per game in the 2023-24 season, far from the target of 5,000. The league remains dependent on a 425-million-yen subsidy from the Japan Football Association (JFA) to stay financially viable.
J-League Chairman Yoshikazu Nonomura, who also serves as the head of the WE League, is working to secure additional sponsors and strengthen the league’s financial foundation. To this end, the WE League has been collaborating with the J-League to improve attendance, including organizing promotional efforts that culminated in the WE League Cup final, which drew a record crowd of 21,524 spectators in December 2023.
Despite the challenges, the WE League has shown signs of progress, including an increasing collaboration with the JFA and its member clubs to share fan data and boost match-day attendance.
Looking Ahead
As women’s football continues to grow in popularity, both Europe and Japan are key battlegrounds for future success. While Europe’s top clubs like Barcelona are leading the way in terms of revenue and fan engagement, Japan’s WE League is still finding its footing, with concerted efforts needed to bring the league up to the level of its global counterparts.
With the Olympic expansion on the horizon and growing interest worldwide, the future of women’s football looks brighter than ever. Whether through record-breaking crowds in Europe or concerted efforts to build the WE League in Japan, women’s football is undoubtedly on an upward trajectory.
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