Demand grows for women’s football on TV and radio

Two-thirds of consumers now want to see women’s football broadcast more frequently across radio and TV, according to a survey by media planning and buying agency MediaCom in association with talkSPORT.

The research of 2,000 consumers across the UK before and after this summer’s Women’s World Cup found that the tournament has helped create an extra 2.4 million fans of women’s football.

Half (50%) of this year’s viewers hadn’t watched the Women’s World Cup in 2015, highlighting the surge in popularity.

The study showed that this rise is improving perceptions of the sport; fans increasingly believe professional women’s teams are as good as the men’s (53% before the tournament to 59% after) and that their success is just as well deserved (80% to 86%).

This has led to a growth in demand for more women’s football to be broadcast on TV and radio (54% to 63% after).

With half (52%) of fans watching the action on TVs at home, several major brands ran adverts to support the tournament, with two-thirds (66%) of viewers saying they enjoyed them. When it comes to the types of content fans want to see, women felt that the adverts spoke to them considerably more than male viewers (73% compared to 50%), while half (51%) agreed that adverts should show more about the physical skills of the female players. Finally, a third (33%) wanted to see more humorous content, similar to that of men’s football.

talkSPORT said its internet listening saw an increase of 26% in weekly reach from the start to the end of the tournament and the talkSPORT Twitter page earned an increase of 21,000 followers throughout the tournament.

Pauline Robson, managing partner at MediaCom, said: “It’s clear that the Women’s World Cup has created significant public demand for more of the sport; the tournament was a truly global one and smashed broadcasting records. There’s therefore a huge opportunity for brands to help drive women’s sports to even greater heights and ensure the Lionesses’ legacy continues after the World Cup.”

Fans surveyed believe that the sport needs the support of male and female presenters (71%) and popular male commentators presenting it (65%) to continue its growth.

Despite this, over seven-in-ten (73%) agree that the most important thing is that, regardless of gender, the presenters must be knowledgeable and enthusiastic about the sport.

Head of talkSPORT Lee Clayton said: “Advertisers are now taking note that women’s sport is a strong area to invest.”