As the summer of women’s sports gets underway with the UEFA Women’s Euros, we take a closer look at women’s football fandom and the opportunity the tournament presents.
Unsurprisingly, football is the most popular sport amongst UK sports fans, and the growth of women’s football is clear to see. Of the 2,000 sports fans we surveyed1, 68% said they follow football with over two in five fans engaging with the women’s game to some degree.
It therefore tracks that the Women’s Euros is an eagerly anticipated event. The tournament’s appeal is widespread across the sports fan community, with over two in five (41%) UK sports fans saying they’re likely to watch, listen to or attend the tournament. Even the football fans who currently exclusively engage with the men’s game are being enticed with over one in five contemplating tuning in.
The tournament is unquestionably an opportunity for women’s football to continue to grow its supporter base. With the spotlight on the best players in Europe showcasing what the women’s game has to offer, interest peaks and lasting impressions can be made – we’ve seen it happen before.
Over half of those who currently engage with women’s football say they started by watching a match on TV. Plus, over a third of women’s football fans in England state the Lionesses’ performances or a major event like the Euros or World Cup initially enticed them.
That said, while we’re likely to see the inevitable bump in interest that most sports benefit from after a widely broadcast event, translating this into longer term fandom across the women’s game isn’t as easy as it might seem.
Our survey showed that while the men’s game sees comparable engagement across national team (72%) and club (82%) football, focus on women’s football is heavily centred around the Lionesses – 78% of those who follow women’s football say they follow the national team and just 41% follow a Women’s club. The relationship between the Lionesses and club level support for the game is therefore one to watch. When asked if the Lionesses’ performance at the Euros is likely to impact their decision to follow women’s club football, 25% of England fans said it would. What’s more, 35% said their future engagement with the Lionesses is linked to how the team fares at the tournament.
This could be great news if the Lionesses do well, but what if it doesn’t go to plan? While a poor showing in the competition isn’t necessarily a deal breaker for everybody, there’s an undeniable link between the Lionesses’ performance in Switzerland and long-term engagement – a conditional relationship that feels unique to women’s football.
Would a fan of the Manchester City men’s team say that a poor showing from Tuchel’s men in the 2026 World Cup will impact their likelihood to continue following their club the following season? It feels very unlikely.
What might long-term success for women’s football fandom off the back of the Euros look like? A breakdown of where football fans focus their attention gives us some clues. We found that just 12% of football fans follow women’s football to at least the same degree as the men’s game. Even when those who exclusively follow men’s football are taken out of the of the equation, three in four of those who follow both men’s and women’s football say they follow the men’s game more than the women’s.
The reasons for this will of course be practical as well as motivational given the smaller number of clubs across the top two tiers of women’s football when compared to the men’s leagues. There are also fewer games televised – although Sky Sports is looking to address this by showing more WSL matches than ever before from the start of the 2025/26 season. Nevertheless, this nuanced view of women’s football fandom helps set benchmarks for what successfully grasping the opportunity presented by the Euros could look like.
Top-level measurements – such as how many people have watched a women’s game in the past year or how many consider themselves followers of the women’s game – are important markers of growth. Yet aiming to strengthen the depth of engagement with women’s football across all football fans would help to build a more sustainable and engaged fanbase. This includes encouraging those who currently only watch the men’s game to dip into the ‘follow men’s more than women’s’ category, as well as aiming to grow the 9% who dedicate equal amounts of their time to men’s and women’s football.
The Euros certainly offers an opportunity for this growth, but it can’t be taken as a given.
As the tournament progresses, we will look at potential ways to capitalise on the increased attention the competition will bring. We will look at what grabbed people’s attention, what those who watched enjoyed about the women’s game and what will keep them engaged long after the final whistle is blown in Basel.
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- A note on methodology: Yonder conducted an online survey with a representative sample of n=2,011 sports fans aged 18+ in the UK between 13-19 June 2025. ↩︎
