Women’s World Cup Still Sees Less Sponsorship Money Than Men’s: Report

Despite the growing popularity of women’s soccer, the women’s World Cup is bringing in far less sponsorship money than the men’s did last year, Bloomberg reported. 

The women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, which began on July 20, is estimated to pull in $300 million in sponsorship revenue, far less than the $1.7 billion scored during the men’s tournament in Qatar in 2022, the news outlet reported, citing data from analytics firm Omdia.

One of the problems is companies don’t realize how much reach female footballers have on social media, Bloomberg reported, citing research by Nielsen Holdings Plc., which considered the sponsorship opportunities available to male and female stars. They often have greater engagement than their male counterparts so they can influence more people.

With bigger prize money and 1.5 million tickets sold, the FIFA sporting event is set to the biggest and most attended World Cup ever, Bloomberg reported. It was also expected to set viewership records for the women’s game, attracting over 2 billion viewers, Euromonitor International estimated when it started. Sponsors include household names like McDonalds, Unilever, and Budweiser.

The growth of the women's game will "continue in the coming years, but the selling of commercial rights with the 2023 World Cup appears to be a significant step taken for women's sports in general," Jake Kemp, a sports analyst at GlobalData, said in a statement last month estimating roughly the same numbers for sponsorship revenue on the women’s side.