Dissertation: Are successful women’s sports unique from their male counterparts? A deep dive into the WSL and EPL

Name: David Sargeant

Role & company: Sports and Betting – Investor, Advisor, Consultant. Atlantic Sports / iGaming Ideas (www.atlanticsports.io & www.igamingideas.com)

Dissertation length: 10,467 words

Introduction:

The men of the English FA banned women’s football in the early 20th century while it was outside of their control and competition. Women’s football has had to find a non-competitive space to flourish in. It has emerged as an inclusive and accessible 21st century sport that is unique from its male counterpart.

If this statement is true and women’s sports are indeed unique then the differences should be observable and measurable. This dissertation looks at the evidence of the differences in the Women’s Super League (WSL) and English Premier League (EPL) in England.

It is discovered that the WSL is not just women playing (men’s) football – it is women playing women’s football. The sport is played differently, has a unique player base with unique needs, is watched by a unique audience that engages in the sport differently, and is commercialised differently. It is played more fairly, with a more socially aware audience, and in a more inclusive and accessible environment.

Recognising the uniqueness of women’s sports is a huge opportunity to engage, grow, and monetise a new football audience. Notably this opportunity is an incremental one for integrated clubs, but to take advantage of their women’s teams they must treat the teams, players, and fans differently in recognition of this uniqueness.

Key findings:

Football is gender imprinted with a male dominated culture. This bias is replicated in scientific research with the shocking under-representation of women and the possible contributory factors to female athletes having higher injury rates.

The unique needs of women players is being recognised in everything from training style to injury prevention, to well-being, caring responsibilities and maternity provisions. Simply treating footballers the same, regardless of gender, is obviously not appropriate.

Gender bias assumes that “men’s football is better” but the sporting products of women’s and men’s are different and cannot be compared in that context. Data shows the EPL is more aggressive, less disciplined, has more sporting “events” although the WSL football has more goals.

As well as the gameplay being is different women are more rule abiding, averse to anti-social behaviour and are more likely to aid opponents.

Since the product is different it is expected that the audience this appeals to differs too. The WSL football audience is more gender balanced (47% women) compared to the EPL (15% women) and younger.

Women’s football has an inclusive atmosphere and often has unsegregated seating. Women’s sports fans engage more positively than men’s football fans. Men’s football still tarnished with aggression, vulgarity and drunkenness. This is reflected in the fan’s behaviour – In the 2022/23 season there were no arrests at any women’s football game in England and Wales compared to 2,264 in men’s football.

Women’s football is less tribal too. Women’s fans more likely to be floating fans and more likely to support multiple clubs. Maybe this inclusive atmosphere is why home advantage is not as pronounced in women’s football.

This inclusivity is reflected in the player base too. The EPL has no openly LGBT+ athletes or coaches while the WSL has lots. Data from the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup shows 13% of players publicly identified as LGBTQ as well as at least three head coaches.

Since women’s and men’s sports are unique and appeal to unique audiences it makes sense that we see different commercial appeal to fans and impact on sponsors.

Brands that feature female athletes are seen as 43% more inclusive and 29% more progressive. Women’s sports fans are 2.8 times more likely to purchase a product recommended by a woman athlete. Fans of women’s sports are 45% more likely to consider or purchase from a sponsor brand compared to men’s sports.

Conclusion:

The uniqueness of women’s sport has created new and different football fans. 55% of WSL fans don’t watch EPL which implies a truly independent fan base.  80% of general tickets sold at the UEFA Women’s European Championships in 2022 were to people not on the FA or UEFA’s databases. They were fans new to football altogether.

These new fans are driving growth across every measurement factor including in-stadia audience, at home viewers, and crucially revenues. Women’s sports globally will generate more than £1billion in revenues in 2024.

To turn these revenues into sustainable businesses is the challenge. However, the recognition of the uniqueness of women’s sports is giving rise to new forms of club structure, independent governance, dedicated and focus stadia and facilities to support this growth.

It has been shown that women’s football is unique across factors including game play, player base, audience and engagement, and commercial opportunity. Women’s football is inclusive and accessible, and this reflects in the diverse and different audiences.

As women’s sports grow, they will start to occupy more and more of the space currently occupied by men’s sports and will once again be competitive. How men’s sports, and society, reacts and changes will be interesting indeed.

When society talks of “football” it is usually men’s football that is being referred to. The evidence shows that women’s football is not women playing (men’s) football but instead women’s football and men’s football are two unique and distinct versions of football.

Recognising the uniqueness of women’s football (in everything from player and fan needs to audience to engagement) and other women’s sports brings many commercial opportunities and hopefully large, and positive, societal repercussions.

This dissertation was part of the MA Leadership in Sport course, co-delivered between the Institute of Sports Humanities and Loughborough University London, educating current and future leaders.