Emma Hayes on the difference between the experience of men’s and women’s football
@atouchmore This dopamine versus cortisol conversation might just change the way you think 👀⚽️
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Women's Football
3 postsPosts tagged with Women's Football
The Rugby Analogy
Women's football as Rugby
Bex Smith is the guest on Other People's Money. Crux Football is her investment vehicle that is buying up women's teams, starting with Montpellier and Rosengard in France and Sweden respectively.
Hear it here:
The shadow of rugby
In the following clip I say women's football is "sleepwalking toward replicating the mistakes of rugby".
How long have you got? Rebecca (Bex) Smith is the guest for Other People's Money, the Unofficial Partner series on sports finance, with co-host Matt Rogan.
The subject is multi club ownership in… | Richard Gillis
How long have you got? Rebecca (Bex) Smith is the guest for Other People’s Money, the Unofficial Partner series on sports finance, with co-host Matt Rogan.
The subject is multi club ownership in women’s football. Bex’s Crux Football owns Montpelier and Rosengard, and the plan is further acquisitions. So what’s the thesis? Search Unofficial Partner where you get podcasts. Or go via the link below.
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It's been 30 years since men's rugby union went pro.
It's an easy comparison to make. But I wonder if it's the right one.
Beware the pull of the comparison, or narrative fallacy as Nassim Taleb put it.
Interview Analysis: Nikki Doucet Transcript
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Topics Covered – Mapped to Headlines
1. MARKET OPPORTUNITY & STARTUP POSITIONING
- TAM (Total Addressable Market): 500m global women's football fans, 79m WSL engagers, 29m UK fans
- "Building from scratch" – tech stack, website, office, brand all established in past 12 months
- "30-40-50 years of growth" – additive to existing football market
2. COMMERCIAL PARTNERSHIPS & BRAND VALUE
- Sponsor roster: Barclays (doubled investment), Nike, Apple, British Gas, Subway, Mercedes
- Value proposition: access to different audience, different demographics, growth economy
- 40% female ticket purchasers, 42% aged 18-34
3. THE ATTENDANCE QUESTION
- Richard directly challenged 10% attendance decline (7,371 → 6,661)
- Doucet deflected to "total audience" (broadcast + digital up)
- Acknowledged inconsistency problem: venues, times, emotional connection to clubs
- Key admission: clubs need to determine how fans emotionally connect to women's team vs men's team
4. AUDIENCE SEGMENTATION
- Three fan segments: Secondary fan (came through men's football), Core fan (season ticket holders), Free fan (new via Lionesses)
- Different communication strategies required
- BBC: 80% don't follow a WSL club
- New fans choose 3-4 teams – not tribal yet
5. PRIVATE EQUITY & INVESTMENT PHILOSOPHY
- "Value creation vs extraction" – explicitly borrowed Richard's language
- Emotion of sport vs transactional models
- Patient capital over 10 years toward 2035 World Cup inflection point
- Caution on rapid deployment: "capital being raised but not deployed efficiently"
6. MULTI-CLUB OWNERSHIP & MICHELE KANG
- "Still reviewing guidelines" – non-committal
- Kang creating "competitive tension" – framed positively
- Table more competitive this season than last
- Need investment, can't block it at "this stage of development"
7. CLOSED LEAGUE DEBATE
- US market "fundamentally different" – Title IX, draft system, talent pathway
- "Tradition over here is important"
- "Last thing you want to do is eliminate hope"
- Expansion creating more tier one/two applications than ever
8. INTERNATIONAL REACH & DISTRIBUTION
- 76% of broadcast audience is international
- Key markets: Australia (Matildas), Brazil, South America, Nigeria, Middle East
- YouTube strategy for WSL2 visibility and data capture
9. PLAYER RIGHTS INNOVATION
- New Sky deal: players have clip rights to post highlights during matches
- Pilot stage, "more next season"
- Designed to create FOMO and drive to broadcast
10. DIGITAL STRATEGY & YOUTUBE
- FA Player "had served its time"
- YouTube: learning audience data, ad revenue, algorithm benefits
- App in beta testing
- Building toward maximizing optionality for next rights cycle
11. STREAMING LANDSCAPE
- Netflix: events-based, interested in Women's World Cup
- Disney+/Women's Champions League production innovation
- Market "going through interesting time"
