PR Week: Have brands really missed the boat on women's football?

Following the triumph of the England women’s team in Euro 2022, PRWeek asked PepsiCo, a sponsor of women’s football since 2020, what challenges might brands or sponsors face if they want to get involved in the sport in the future. The response? "That they are too late!"

The debate was ignited by ex-England player and BBC commentator Alex Scott, who, after the final whistle at Wembley Stadium on Sunday, said: “I’m not standing up at corporate events in front of sponsors anymore begging for them to get involved in the women’s game, because you know what?

“If you’re not involved, you’ve missed the boat, you’ve missed the train. Because look at this… it has finally left the station and it is gathering speed.”

There’s certainly a sense that women's football has entered a new era after the historic match. The Lionesses’ 2-1 extra-time win over Germany pulled in a peak audience of 23.3 million across BBC platforms, making it the most-watched women’s Euros in history.

The match at Wembley was attended by 87,192 fans, which is a record for any European championship final – men’s or women’s.

But has the boat really been missed for sponsors? What must newcomers do if they want to engage in women’s football partnerships now?

Euro 2022 was the first time sponsorship was offered solely for the England women’s team, as opposed to being combined with the men’s, and many of the Lionesses look set to strike lucrative individual sponsorship deals following the victory.

David Alexander, managing director at Calacus PR, says: “For too long, the authorities and infrastructure have worked against women’s sport rather than for it.

“While Barclays and a handful of others have started to invest [Barclays has doubled its investment in the women's game to more than £30m between 2022 and 2025], it has taken a monumental event like Euro 2022 to finally confirm to brands and administrators that women’s football is not just a nice little add-on.”

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