Although still far below Premier League’s viewership numbers, women’s football in England saw surging revenues and attendance levels last season.
According to data presented by SportsLens.com, Women’s Super League Clubs` average attendance nearly tripled year-over-year and hit 5,616 in the 2022/23 season.
Arsenal WFC’s Average Attendance Skyrocketed 379%, Manchester City WFC Follows with a 316% Increase
The success of the Lionesses in the UEFA Women’s EURO 2022 has triggered a significant uplift in attendance. According to Deloitte’s 2023 Annual Review of Football Finance, Women’s Super League clubs’ average attendance surged by nearly 200% last season, with an average of 5,616 fans watching every match, up from 1,923 a season before.
The survey showed Arsenal WFC, the most successful team in the women’s game in England and a founding member of the Women’s Super League, saw the biggest year-year growth, with its average attendance skyrocketing by a massive 379%. In the 2021/22 season, an average of 3,544 fans watched matches of Arsenal’s women’s team. This figure jumped to nearly 17,000 last season.
Manchester City WFC saw the second-largest attendance increase of 316%; its average viewership jumped from 1,925 to over 8,000. Manchester United followed with a 201% year-over-year growth and an average of 10,699 fans watching the matches, the second-largest number in England’s elite women’s game.
Statistics show Chelsea`s average attendance jumped from 2,969 to 5,969 season-over-season, while Tottenham Hotspur`s more than doubled and hit 3,866.
Matchday Revenues Make Less than 10% of WSL Clubs’ Total Revenues
The triple-digit growth of the average attendance in the Women’s Super League will most likely boost matchday revenue for future seasons, which accounted for less than 10% of WSL clubs’ revenues in season 2021/22.
In a record-breaking year for women’s football, WSL clubs generated £32 million in revenue or 60% more than in the season 2020/21. However, Deloitte’s survey showed huge differences between clubs across the Women’s League. More than 70% of revenues in the 2021/22 season came from Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United, and Manchester City, the top four clubs in England’s elite women’s game.
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