The sports industry is competing for attention and purpose-driven engagement like never before, with events like the FIFA World Cup, Formula 1 or Super Bowl and social causes like sustainability, gender equality and human rights.
While FIFA aims to make the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 carbon neutral, Formula 1 expects to hit net zero carbon footprint by 2030 through sustainable fuel and NFL creates a “green legacy” in each community that hosts the Super Bowl.
For women’s sports, on the other hand, was vital to engage through purpose from the very beginning in order to survive. In comparison to men’s sports fans, women’s sport fans are 25% more likely to buy sponsor products and 21% of them have a stronger sense of community.
The goal, changing the game for millions of girls and women.
Record-breaking figures
From banning women’s football in 1921 to hosting “the biggest women’s European sport event in history”, as the English FA anticipated. The tournament is setting a new benchmark in commercial activity, with over 500,000 tickets sold ahead of the start, projected 250 million live global audience and estimated economic impact of US$65 million.
For UEFA Women’s Euro 2022, prize money will be doubled up to €16 million, being an equitable distribution a more significant factor than performance. Each participating member association will receive a minimum guarantee of €600,000. In the 2017 edition, UEFA registered €12.7 million in revenue and €8.5 million in losses.
Among national teams and tournament sponsors, the most common trait has nothing to do with business sectors, region or investment in sports, but with commitment towards society. Gender equality is a key territory for Booking, Visa, Volkswagen, Hublot or TikTok.
However, it truly surprises the presence of both Nike and Adidas as global sponsors. While Nike became the official partner UEFA Women’s Football in 2019, Adidas expanded its partnership with UEFA in favour of women in sport in 2021. The one-year delay due to the pandemic and the partner replacement for the next cycle would explain this peculiar situation.
Driving necessary conversations
In the digital landscape, the Netherlands leads the ranking of the top dedicated women’s national team accounts, with over 640,000 followers. TikTok, UEFA’s official sponsor, partnered with Copa90 to leverage the impact through players, creators and community. Also, the tournament will count with an app and a pioneering fantasy game.
Volkswagen launched the bold campaign #NotWomensFootball, aimed to drive discussion around equality and diversity. Likewise, Nike highlighted the quality, energy and passion of women’s football with “Never Settle, Never Done”, featuring star players such as Alexia Putellas.
To not only to entertain but to protect the community of the pitch too, UEFA created a new Respect programme, including the “Real Scars” campaign, tackling online abuse and promoting awareness and education across social media.
At a ticketing level, having full stadiums is a main objective across the competition. So far, tickets have been purchased from 99 countries and a family of four could attend a game for US$36. Accessibility to develop a product that particularly attracts the Gen Z, acquiring 39% of tickets.
Shaping culture
The delay of the UEFA Women’s Euro did not only not lose momentum but led to the most-digital ever edition. Not only because of the opportunity, but also due to the online nature of its community.
In a world where customers only care about 25% of brands and 73% of them believe companies should take real action for society or the planet, the tournament represents an excellent platform to drive transforming debates.
A seed to make cultural change happen.
Sources: 2Playbook, SportsPro, UEFA.