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Inside the rise and rise of women's football
Football fans are counting down the days until the Women's World Cup. The tournament takes place in July and will be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand. And if the Euro 2022 is anything to go by, it looks like it will be the sporting event that will dominate the summer. Indeed, it is the biggest women's football tournament since England won the Euro 2022 last year, beating Germany in the final. And it follows the last World Cup in 2019, which was won by the United States in France. But while these events are household names, sports fans have not always been as interested in women's football as they are now. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter The statistics speak for themselves. According to FIFA, a combined 1.12 billion viewers tuned into official broadcast coverage of the 2019 world cup across all platforms. The average number of viewers doubled that of the previous tournament. And the 2022 Women's Euro was watched by 365 million globally, European football governing body UEFA said. This was double the amount of the previous tournament in 2017. Aside from viewers, sponsorships for women’s sports increased by 20 per cent in 2022; showing brands are keen to support it. So how did we get here? Not by accident. The Football Association (FA) launched a strategy to boost people's enjoyment of the sport. Speaking about the strategy in a statement, Baroness Sue Campbell, the FA's Director of Women’s Football, said: “When we launched our Women’s and Girls’ strategy, Inspiring Positive Change, in October 2020 eight months into a global pandemic, we could not have foreseen the incredible two years that lay ahead. While things in the world have changed, we have remained constant in our belief that football has the power to change lives for the better and improve opportunities for girls and women across society." Success became just as important as strategy. With England's Lioness team winning the Euro 2022, this boosted the profile of women's football, making it ever more popular. And with more popularity came more funding, which in turn raised the awareness of women's football. The cycle continues. “The power of women's football was evident on 31 July 2022, a day that will live long in the memory for us all. One goal in the strategy was to 'win a major tournament’ but none of us could have imagined the impact of victory in a home tournament," Campbell added. "When the Lionesses lifted the UEFA Women’s EURO trophy at Wembley Stadium in front of 87,000 fans, it was a moment of great joy, but it was also a moment of great opportunity. The reaction to the success and the way it transcended society has given us an unprecedented chance to change the future of the women’s game forever. It has turbo charged our strategy with demand growing right cross the game. We have seen more girls stepping forward to play, more fans filling our stadiums and new commercial partners all wanting to be part of this great movement for change." Meanwhile in an article, sports scientist Dr Julia West also pointed to the increased exposure of women's football to people through the media as boosting women's football. She wrote: "Free match-streaming and online channels have also helped raise the profile of the women’s game. Watching accessible matches brings players and teams into your home regularly and creates a fan bond. Players become household names. Even those who don’t watch or support football will know the names of a few more players than they think." She added: "The success of women’s national teams across different sports also helps springboard the achievements of the Lionesses into our news reports more regularly. Possibly the worst regular coverage occurs in the printed media, with the exception of our Euros 2022 championship title reporting. The constant stream of posts, opinions and results keeps the game and its developments in current memory. This is vital for the future and success of competitive teams and leagues as it provides a platform for further investment." It is clear the popularity of women's football is on the rise, then. Long may it continue. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.
2023-06-25 12:24

Big Tech's core businesses face overhaul under EU tech rules
By Supantha Mukherjee STOCKHOLM The EU Commission on Wednesday designated 22 services of six major tech companies as
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Get two 3-in-1 iPhone, AirPods, and Apple Watch chargers for $25
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2023-10-29 17:28

Two men charged over cocaine seizure off Cork coast
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2023-09-30 03:18

China may be behind social media accounts seeking to sway US voters, Microsoft says
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2023-09-07 21:21

Boston Red Sox series could force Yankees hand with Aaron Boone
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2023-08-20 02:52

Asian Equity Futures Point to Cautious Opening: Markets Wrap
Stock futures for Asia suggested a subdued open to trading around the region Thursday as investors weigh central
2023-06-29 06:48

'Two Jimmys for the price of one': Jimmy Fallon and Meghan Trainor perform new song 'Wrap Me Up' on 'Jimmy Kimmel Live'
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Sydney Sweeney feels 'beat up' by all the rumors surrounding her
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FIFA under fire for all male commentary team at Women’s World Cup
The Women’s World Cup has barely had time to get going, and already organisers at FIFA have managed to drop the ball when it comes to, well, women. FIFA announced its English language commentary team on 18 July, two days before the tournament kicked off, and out of nine commentators it contains exactly zero women. The list of commentators is as follows: Simon Hill, Robbie Thomson, Simon Brotherton, Kevin Keatings, Mark Scott, John Roder, Paul Walker, Chris Wise, Steve Wilson. Not exactly a beacon of gender diversity, eh? Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Unsurprisingly, the announcement left fans fuming, while others could scarcely believe that FIFA had managed to mess up on such an obvious opportunity to spotlight women commentators who often struggle to get a look-in on men’s broadcasts. Sports journalist Manasi Pathak wrote on Twitter: “So you’re telling me FIFA could not hire a single female commentator for what’s expected to be the biggest women’s sporting event?” Sally Freedman, another sports writer, said: “Seriously… are we in 2023 or 1950? It’s the *women’s* World Cup, yet here is our allsinging, all dancing all male commentary team!” Despite the backlash, FIFA also managed to annoy people with its response, which was to appoint a smaller team of women as “co-commentators” the next day. They are Amy Chapman, Melissa Barbieri, Izzy Christiansen, Laura Bassett and Rehanne Skinner. One person suggested FIFA was still discriminating against women. They said: “‘Co-commentators’ aka women, know your place behind the men, okay?” It’s worth noting that this isn’t the first time FIFA has faced criticism for somehow managing to discriminate against women even at the Women’s World Cup. It still offers a significantly smaller prize pool for the tournament versus the men’s edition, with prize money standing at only $150m. Men’s World Cup prize money was $440m last year. England’s Lionesses will kick off their campaign against Haiti on Saturday. Also in their group is Denmark and China. Hopefully we’ll get to hear some women’s voices on commentary by then. Is that really too much to ask? Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.
2023-07-21 16:56

Odey Asset Management in advanced talks to transfer funds and staff to rivals - letter
LONDON Odey Asset Management is "in advanced discussions" to rehouse funds and transfer staff to other asset managers,
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