Month: May 2026

For years, the idea of Alexia Putellas leaving Barcelona felt almost impossible to imagine. Not because football allows fairy tale endings often, and not because there was never interest elsewhere, but because the relationship between player and club eventually moved beyond the usual categories. Alexia was not simply Barcelona’s captain, best player, or most recognizable figure. She became part of the club’s identity during the exact years that identity transformed into something globally recognizable.

In Italy, women’s football has grown both on the pitch and in terms of operating costs, but revenues remain low. One of the main potential income streams for clubs lies in fan monetization and digital platforms. However, most clubs still offer free entry and have not yet developed an exclusive system tailored to women’s football supporters.

The relationship between women’s football clubs and brands is shifting in a way that feels less like sponsorship and more like cultural authorship. The familiar model, a logo on a shirt in exchange for visibility, is being replaced by something more layered: co-creation partnerships that blend football with fashion, music, lifestyle, and storytelling.

A modest but meaningful boost for Spanish women’s football as the club’s new owner commits to building a fully professional team from the ground up.

Normalising and popularising women’s football happens in packed stadiums and on the pitch, but some of the most significant steps are taken far from the spotlight, in government offices and meeting rooms. Growing the game is not only about what happens during 90 minutes, but also about finding new ways to bring it closer to audiences who have yet to discover the quality, emotion and identity of the women’s game. That is the thinking behind the Spanish government’s decision to include Liga F matches in La Quiniela, the country’s iconic football betting pool, in a move seen as both symbolic and structural for the future of women’s football.