Whilst managers of women’s football in the Netherlands have to fight for every euro, top clubs in England and the United States manage to achieve great things. “In men’s football, nobody asks: how profitable is this going to be? With women’s football, they always do,” says Julie Uhrman, businesswoman and co-founder of the American women’s professional club Angel City in Los Angeles. Uhrman was a guest speaker at the Raise Women’s Sport conference in London last week. According to her, you need to invest in facilities, the fan experience and, above all, in the players themselves. “If you do that, success will follow.” Angel City, founded in 2020, is now worth 340 million dollars. Her club features on the Forbes list of the ‘25 most valuable women’s sports teams in the world’, alongside seven other football clubs from the US. Three clubs are from England (Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United). How do you raise a lot of money? It starts with people who don’t see women’s football as a social cause, but as a growth market, says Nina Bibby, marketing director at Barclays, which has been a sponsor of the English league since 2019. “It’s about a vision spanning decades. You need to know which levers to pull.” What helps women’s football grow sustainably? We’ve listed three areas where English and American clubs are investing their money: their own stadiums, their own training centres and women’s health. Space to park pushchairs. Wider family seats. Healthier food. Plenty of ladies’ toilets. A spot by the pitch to get autographs. Fans at women’s football matches really are a different crowd to those at men’s football. Paul Barber, director of Brighton & Hove Albion, understands that. He is now having the first European women’s football stadium built, with capacity for 10,000 spectators. The cost? 85 million pounds, or 100 million euros. A massive investment. ‘We had to convince the shareholders,’ says Barber. ‘But we’re now building something that could last for 100 years.’ And which should bring in some money. A dedicated women’s stadium could generate revenue of between approximately 1 billion and 3.8 billion dollars, according to a recently published report. “Brighton isn’t the biggest club with the biggest budget,” Barber admits. “But we see women and men as one.” It helps that he has two daughters who play football, he says: “I always say, ‘If you see it, you can be it.’ Having our own stadium raises the profile of women’s football.” In the US, Kansas City Women were the first to have a women’s football stadium in 2024. Michele Kang, owner of the London City Lionesses women’s football club, had a list of no fewer than 100 requirements for the architects of their training complex. The building is due to be completed in the summer of 2027 and is designed entirely around the players’ needs. The idea is that if you know what the players need, they’ll improve and the fans will follow naturally. One of the requests was for a beauty room with illuminated mirrors and hairdryers. Isn’t that a bit of a stereotype? “Not at all,” says Martin Semmens, managing director of the London City Lionesses. “This is about facilitating social interaction.” There are separate shower cubicles, just like in the stadium Brighton is having built, because women have indicated that they “would prefer not to shower in one large room”. The gym is equipped with a different type of machinery. Semmens cannot recall off the top of her head exactly which ones, but they have been “selected and tailored to the female body”. Finally, consideration was given to the car park. “Close to the entrance, so that women can get to their cars safely in the dark.” Semmens admits that they are lucky to have a sponsor like Kang. At the same time, you have to put it into perspective. “The money she’s putting into it is no more than the amount it costs to sign a professional male player.” It’s all relative, he’s trying to say. The same goes for advertisers. For the same amount as a single advert in the American NBA basketball league (half a million dollars), you can sponsor a top women’s football team for an entire season. ‘You can’t have top-level sport without women’s health being top-notch,’ says Assia Grazioli-Venier, venture capitalist and co-founder of Muse Capital. Through her company, she invests in, amongst other things, the American women’s football team, the Washington Spirits. She was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 35, which fuelled her interest in women’s health. “I’ve been through so much that I want to champion other women, from puberty to the menopause.” Giulia Mazzia, commercial director at Chelsea Women, also recognises the value of an elite healthcare system. The eight-time national champions are fully committed to this. “This is a competitive sport,” she says. “If you can offer players something extra – for example, in terms of their health – they’ll choose us.” For instance, Chelsea is the first club in the English league to have a fertility budget, which all 27 players can spend as they see fit each season. For example, on an endometriosis test (a condition that can lead to infertility) or to have their eggs frozen. The club also employs a gynaecologist and a pelvic floor specialist. “It’s so important to understand that these aren’t just athletes, but female athletes. Not mini-men.” And, she admits: “It’s a good story to tell players and fans.”   submitted by   /u/Roller95 [link]   [comments]