Lionesses' win set to turbo-boost engagement with women's sport
The evidence from the England Women's victory in the EURO 2022 tournament suggests that the Lionesses' edge-of-the-seat victory in last night's EUR0 2025 final will have a major impact on engagement with women's football, and women's sport in general.
Research from the Women's Sport Trust shows that 75% of EURO 2022 viewers went on to watch the Women's Super League (WSL) domestic competition in the 2022-23 season. Equally impressive is the fact that by November 2022, a whopping 49% of that season’s WSL viewers were new, having not watched the previous season and these new viewers were more likely to be female and under 35. And average TV audiences for the first part of the 2022/23 season were 1.5x higher than before.
Momentum carried over into the 2024-25 WSL season as well, particularly in the digital sphere. The league’s official YouTube channel became the second most viewed women’s sports league/competition globally, while the WSL TikTok account recorded the highest average views per video (417,000) and highest engagement per video of any major women’s sports property in the last 12 months.
What's more, the Lionesses' 2022 triumph boosted the momentum for women's sport in general, not just football, with 53% of new viewers of the Women's EURO going on to watch other women's sports.
There are also direct commercial benefits with four in five brand decision makers stating they are likely to invest in women’s sports in the next one to three years. Meanwhile, 10.7m UK adults familiar with a sponsorship in the women’s football space say they would be more likely to consider the brand as a result of the sponsorship.
Regardless of the outcome on Sunday, the Lionesses have once again captured the nation’s attention and taken the game to new heights. Their performances has deepened engagement with women’s sport and inspired millions. After the last Euros, we saw a huge spike in audiences across the WSL and women’s sport more broadly, and the momentum continues. With a home Women’s Rugby World Cup on the horizon and over half the UK population now aware of a women’s sport sponsorship, the commercial opportunity has never been clearer. The brands that invest now won’t just be supporting the game, they’ll be shaping its future.
Tammy Parlour MBE, Women's Sport Trust CEO
All in all, it's clear that the positive ripple effect from the heroics of Serena Wiegman's squad will be felt across the whole if the women's sporting landscape, for the rest of 2025 and beyond.
