Women's football: the audience dilemma between merit and sensationalism
Stands stay empty even with free tickets. Torn between merit and sensationalism, women's football is searching for an audience. Putellas shines with no one watching.
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
Women's football with no audience or crowds: the sensationalism dilemma
While Alexia Putellas was celebrating a goal in the qualifying rounds for the 2027 Women's World Cup in Brazil, another debate was unfolding in public conversation: whether women's football can survive without changing its product. The numbers are stubborn: despite giving away tickets at numerous matches, the stands remain half empty and interest is not taking off.
Faced with this lack of audience, voices have emerged claiming the level of play is too low and that spectators will not pay to watch it without an extra incentive. In its most explicit version, that incentive means sensual the players, taking the American Lingerie Football League as a reference, which combined lingerie and football. Others prefer to look the other way: some analysts argue that the real problem is not women's football, but that sport in general has become a theatre, with VAR and the arguments around it taking centre stage.
The dispute pits those who call for time and recognition on women's football's own merits against those who consider it hopeless without resorting to sensationalism. And in the middle lies the reality nobody disputes: free tickets are not enough to fill a stadium. Until that changes, the question about the way forward will remain up in the air. And in the meantime, Putellas keeps scoring goals that few people see.
While Alexia Putellas was celebrating a goal in the qualifying rounds for the 2027 Women's World Cup in Brazil, another debate was unfolding in public conversation: whether women's football can survive without changing its product. The numbers are stubborn: despite giving away tickets at numerous matches, the stands remain half empty and interest is not taking off.
Faced with this lack of audience, voices have emerged claiming the level of play is too low and that spectators will not pay to watch it without an extra incentive. In its most explicit version, that incentive means sensual the players, taking the American Lingerie Football League as a reference, which combined lingerie and football. Others prefer to look the other way: some analysts argue that the real problem is not women's football, but that sport in general has become a theatre, with VAR and the arguments around it taking centre stage.
The dispute pits those who call for time and recognition on women's football's own merits against those who consider it hopeless without resorting to sensationalism. And in the middle lies the reality nobody disputes: free tickets are not enough to fill a stadium. Until that changes, the question about the way forward will remain up in the air. And in the meantime, Putellas keeps scoring goals that few people see.
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Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (18 replies).
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