Let them roar: Advertisers are key to helping our Lionesses build a lasting legacy

Opinion
The Lionesses ended 56 years of hurt by bringing football home. Keeping it here will need advertisers harnessing their growing fanbase to help foster the next golden generation.
Where were you when they won? I remember rushing home on the Tube to catch the second half. I was impatiently waiting to emerge from a tunnel, only to hear Germany had equalised. The mood in the carriage sunk as passengers sat glued to their phones. Ninety minutes finished in an agonising 1-1 draw.
I got home just as extra time started. Minutes ticked by as I watched the game through my fingers. Then Chloe Kelly scored. Then the final whistle blew after what seemed like an age. They’d won. We’d won. I’m not afraid to say I shed a tear.
If you also caught the magic of that final on a screen, you were part of the biggest British TV audience ever for a standalone women’s football match; 17.4m viewers tuned in to watch. Globally, Fifa reported a 215% rise in viewership for the Euros over the decade to 2022.
The effect in the stands and on the pitch is visible. Visa found almost half of women’s football fans expect to significantly increase their engagement in the next three years, while grassroots participation in UK women’s and girl’s football shot up by 56% in the four years to 2024.
In fact, the dial is moving in a way that might have seemed impossible 10 years ago. However, dials only move with momentum. As Euro 2025 kicks off in Switzerland next month, it’s tempting to think women’s football will be out of sight, out of mind.
Advertisers can’t afford to ignore this year’s Euros. Commercially, it offers brands significant opportunities to harness the Lionesses’ growing fanbase. However, this tournament could also be vital to ensuring girls inspired today can become England’s footballing heroes tomorrow.
News brands are a key part of fans’ football diet
News brands also saw the bump in attention during England’s run to Euro glory in 2022. According to Ipsos Iris, time spent on news brand football content during July (the month of the competition’s final stages) was 71% higher than July 2023 (the month before England’s run to the World Cup final).
The Euro success led news brands to invest heavily into coverage during the final stage of the 2023 World Cup. For example, MailOnline published over 500 Lionesses articles during the campaign, generating 16.9m views.
Meanwhile, The Guardian boosted its women’s football offering with live blogs, in-depth analysis and its Women’s Football Weekly podcast, which saw a 50% increase in downloads during the 2023 World Cup compared with Euro 2022. The Sun’s comprehensive live blogging saw a 45% rise in page views versus the previous tournament.
This rising engagement will make news brands valuable for advertisers come Euro 2025. While 13m UK adults consume both women and men’s football coverage in news brands, women’s football fans are 20% more likely to read UK news brands and 71% more likely to turn to them for purchase inspiration than the average adult.
Sports brands can count on news brand environments to help them stand out. RAM UK data shows they outperform the news brand benchmark by 10% on their “overall impression” of the brand and by 13% for showing a “fresh approach”.
However, news brands excel at perfectly timed tactical ads during high-stake sporting moments, meaning non-sports advertisers can authentically participate in the national conversation.
With football content readers 49% more likely to read news brands in print than the average UK adult, advertisers can use news brands to land culturally relevant campaigns among a highly engaged readership.
From bandwagon to brand purpose
The commercial opportunities are undoubtedly attractive. However, investment has an impact going far beyond brand success.
With the Lionesses reigning European champions but playing outside the UK this summer, the women’s game in Britain stands at a pivotal junction. Can it count on the financial support and exposure it needs to build its next golden generation?
After England’s Euro triumph, retired captain Jill Scott told The Media Leader’s Future of Media event that there had been momentum from brands and media following the tournament.
“We were always having to use this energy, go back to club games, try and raise it again for the next tournament and then it would go back down,” Scott said. “But I think after this tournament the main thing is that the media and the brands seem to be staying on board with us.”
Brands that do stay on board can really make a difference. “Short-term investment isn’t sustainable in the women’s game,” Tottenham and England striker Bethany England told Newsworks at Mad//Fest last year.
“Investors need to know it’s not going to be an easy ride but you’re in it for the long haul to sustain the sport and help people achieve their dreams.”
Fans agree: Visa found seven in 10 fans believe brands help boost women’s football’s visibility, while two-thirds believe brands are essential to the sport’s development.
Women’s football in the UK is at a crossroads. With an international trophy and growing grassroots participation on the pitch, plus a surging fanbase and significant media interest, the momentum is undeniable.
It’s now up to advertisers to help our Lionesses roar for generations to come.
Lewis Boulton is communications manager at Newsworks