21.01.2025
Spectator analysis of the top five women’s football leagues
One of the key components to taking women's football to the nevel level is increasing stadium attendances and spectator numbers. 'The Rise of Women's Football’ takes a closer look at attendance figures for the last three seasons in the top five leagues.

While attendance numbers have risen in the last ten years, particularly for international matches, the individual national leagues have also recorded higher demands in recent years. The broadcast effect following the EURO 2022 in England is especially noteworthy, as it led to a significant increase in viewer numbers across Europe.

Focusing on the five leading leagues worldwide (Frauen-Bundesliga, Women’s Super League, Première Ligue, Liga F and National Women’s Soccer League), the NWSL is the clear leader attracting audiences with more than two million spectators at 182 matches in the last season (2023/24 / 2024), followed by the WSL with almost one million. In third place is the Frauen-Bundesliga with up to 380,000 spectators, closely followed by Liga F. In fifth place is the French Première Ligue (formerly Division 1 Féminine) with just over 140,000 spectators.

In positive news for women’s football, all five leagues are seeing an increase in demand from fans who want to watch matches live. An important factor in this development is, among others, that more and more clubs are playing their ‘highlight matches’ in larger stadiums or – as in the case of Arsenal FC – moving most of their season matches in a large stadium. It has been shown that this kind of ‘eventisation’ attracts more fans to women’s football. It is also important to note that, compared to men’s football, other target groups such as young girls and families make up a large proportion of those interested in the women’s game.

Disclaimer: Please note that the attendance numbers in the various sources may vary. We have endeavoured to be as transparent as possible in our research. As far as possible, we have taken into account the figures published by the national associations. Our sources include: DFB, Eurosport, Diario AS, ESPN, Kicker, Optus Sport, Statista, SportsPro, Two Circles and Worldfootball.

Looking at the individual leagues, there are a number of clubs that have managed to build a strong fan base through pulling from the men’s club fans as well as by placing fitting advertisements. Arsenal FC has the highest average attendance per game in the WSL and overall, attracting an average of 29,999 fans per game to the Emirates Stadium in north London.

The highest-attended club football match is still the UEFA Women’s Champions League match between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid in 2022 with 91,533 spectators at Camp Nou. The highest-attended match at national level took place in England in 2023 following the EUROs triumph, at the FA Cup final between Chelsea FC and Manchester United, which attracted 77,390 spectators. Moreover, the highest attendance for a league match was 60,739, in La Liga F, when Atlético Madrid met Barcelona at the Wanda Metropolitano in 2019.

The examples have shown that what women’s football needs to gain more attraction, apart from the quality of the football itself, is to deliver more incentives for potential fans to make it to the stadium, e.g. by chosing bigger venues, offering activities on site, creating a family-friendly atmosphere, properly advertising games, and more. There are still many untapped opportunities that bare the potential to increase spectator numbers in women’s football even further in the future.

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