New data shows UK women’s sports is fielding more women fans than ever

The GIST: The stars aligned for women’s sports in the UK this year, with the country hosting international tournaments like the Women’s Rugby World Cup, promoting domestic leagues like the Barclays Women’s Super League, The Hundred, and the Netball Super League, and winning the UEFA Women’s Euro title (again).

• A new Women’s Sports Trust report found viewership among UK women for women’s sports reached record highs for the Women’s Euro (44%) and Women’s Rugby World Cup (43%). This suggests hosting global events is a surefire way to grow the women’s game, and for upcoming U.S. competitions, sponsors have an opportunity to make winning assists.

The data: The nation won big in sports like rugby and soccer, along with local faves like cricket and netball. As media deals improved access, total viewing hours from January to September reached a record 357M hours. During this period, the average viewing time for women’s TV sport programming was nine hours and 45 minutes, surpassing the previous 2023 record of nine hours and 29 minutes.

• And across all TV programming, the nation’s most-watched broadcast moments so far this year starred the Lionesses: The Women’s Euro final drew a peak audience of 16.22M, while England’s semifinal drew 9.88M nationally.

The trend: We know that hosting a tournament fosters national viewership, and in the UK, the influx of tournament bids and trophies coincides with the growth of women’s sports. This spills into increased fandom and viewership for domestic leagues, which means these tentpole events have long-lasting effects.

• This happened after the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup (WWC) and in 2024 following the IIHF Women’s World Championship. It’s also setting the stage for sports like volleyball, women’s soccer, and women’s rugby as the U.S. prepares to host the 2027 FIVB Women’s Volleyball World Championship, the 2031 WWC, and the 2033 Women’s Rugby World Cup.

Zooming out: When the UK hosted (and won) the 2022 Women’s Euro, it ignited women’s sports fandom beyond the tournament: 27% of its 15.8M new viewers watched more women’s sports for the following two months. This is why it’s pivotal for the U.S. to launch and win bids to spur long-term domestic fandom, and it’s imperative that sponsors and media entities jump in to strengthen bids.

• It’s also beneficial to enter at the domestic level before major global events, which lets sponsors enter at a lower price point as they build up to the world stage — consider U.S. Soccer’s record sponsorship revenue in the lead-up to men’s and women’s World Cups and Netflix’s rights coup for the WWC in 2027 and 2031. Brace yourself.