Women’s football is entering a phase of globalised growth. Yet while expenses continue to rise, revenues remain limited, making long-term sustainability difficult without the backing of a men’s professional club or a strong independent organisation – both scenarios carrying their own risks. As a result, one of the few viable paths to generate income lies in fan monetisation.

The Italian Context

As with many aspects of women’s football in Italy, there is fertile ground to build something tailored specifically to the women’s game – a model capable of strengthening loyalty, rewarding supporters, and offering a more meaningful matchday experience. However, when it comes to season tickets, no club has yet developed a product designed exclusively for the women’s team. Most strategies still revolve around using the men’s side as an incentive, encouraging their fanbase to attend women’s matches rather than creating a dedicated offering for women’s football itself.

This dynamic exists largely because entry is usually free. During the professional era, the only club to attempt a unified product was Parma: the men’s Serie B season ticket automatically granted access to the women’s Serie A fixtures in the Petitot Stand – the only section of the Tardini opened for those matches. Other clubs, such as Roma, Fiorentina and Juventus, tend to create combined packages around specific high-profile weekends, starting from the men’s match and adding the women’s fixture as an additional benefit.

Why Dedicated Products Are Still Missing

Without a national strategy for the development of the women’s game – and with women’s football still not fully integrated into the broader football ecosystem – clubs operate according to their own instincts and priorities. This creates a fragmented landscape: while younger fans are among the most engaged and digitally active, a forced digitalisation risks excluding an older segment of the audience that does not yet have the digital literacy required to navigate the models successfully implemented in other countries.

The Key Element

Italian clubs must take one crucial factor into account: low ticket prices are often more appealing because attending a women’s football match usually involves additional costs – from petrol for the car to public transport fares. Even if these expenses are still lower than the price of a men’s match ticket, they tend to discourage fans more because of the overall effort required rather than a lack of interest in the sporting event itself.

At the same time, introducing paid tickets for every match carries the risk of reducing attendance, and while this could generate some revenue, it may not justify having a stadium that is three-quarters empty. The key, therefore, is to balance these different elements: keeping ticket prices low enough to attract a wider audience, while ensuring they remain proportionate to the service offered. Clubs need to find a middle ground that allows them to generate some revenue without discouraging supporters – fans who want to spend a fair amount but also need to feel encouraged to do so and motivated to attend matches.

What Clubs Could Realistically Implement

A first balancing option could be a €5-10 ticket that guarantees a specific seat in the main stand, or that includes small benefits such as a 10% discount on merchandise or on purchases at the stadium bar. Another possibility would be a 10% discount on public transport used to reach the stadium. A second solution could be the introduction of a women’s-team-only season ticket, priced around €40-50, granting access to all home matches. Meanwhile, men’s teams could maintain their existing season ticket structure, which includes access to women’s fixtures.

Another, slightly more creative option could be a combined package that includes a selection of women’s matches together with a significant discount on the ticket for a major men’s team fixture. However, this solution would only be applicable to a small number of clubs and only once per season, due to scheduling constraints. It would also be unusable for clubs that do not have a men’s professional team behind them. Digital memberships, on the other hand, would currently be far too innovative for the Italian landscape, which is still adapting to structural changes – even though some progress has been made on the men’s side thanks to clubs like Juventus.

Sustainable Solutions

In Italy, clubs could also explore tailored initiatives that consider the generally difficult economic situation many families face, while leveraging the fact that women’s football often offers a calmer and more welcoming environment compared to the men’s game. A pay-what-you-want model, rewarded with small coupons to be used at the stadium bar, could encourage attendance while also supporting matchday staff. Another option would be to establish partnerships with local businesses near the stadium, offering discounts or matchday initiatives, for example, fixed-price menus at nearby cafés and bars before kick-off.

For families specifically, considering that entry for children under 14 is usually free, clubs could organise pre-match or halftime activities for kids – small sports challenges or even non-football games designed simply to entertain them. Alongside this, creating a space where families can spend time (and, in this case, some money) without feeling overwhelmed by costs could make attending women’s matches more appealing than the men’s game. The goal should be to create value, rather than simply adding another expense.

Balancing Potential and Reality

Italy once again finds itself in a situation where the potential to build something meaningful is clearly there, yet what is missing is a strategy – or even just a slightly more creative and courageous vision – capable of turning that potential into genuine interest and increased revenue. At the same time, shifting too abruptly toward a heavily digitalised system risks excluding a portion of the population that, for economic or digital-literacy reasons, cannot consistently attend matches or navigate more complex ticketing models.

A balanced approach to revenue and stadium capacity does exist, just as there is room to leverage women’s football as a brand in its own right by creating tailored products and a personalised matchday experience, especially for families, who find in this environment a calmer and safer space to enjoy an afternoon of football. Perhaps it is precisely through experimentation that the women’s game can uncover its true added value.

Text: Sebastiano Moretta