Women's soccer attendances up 24% across top four European ...

Average attendance across the top four European women’s soccer leagues increased by 24 per cent during the 2023/24 season, according to data from Two Circles.

Confirmed: England’s Women’s Super League (WSL) achieved a 41 per cent year-over-year (YoY) rise in attendance French top-tier league D1 Feminine also notched up a 38 per cent YoY increase There were smaller rises obtained by Spain’s Liga F (11 per cent YoY) and Germany’s Frauen-Bundesliga (six per cent YoY) Context:

The WSL’s attendance growth was driven by an increasing number of games being held in larger venues. An example of this was shown by Arsenal achieving an average attendance of 52,000 for games at the Emirates Stadium, compared to the average crowd of 3,595 that went to their games at Meadow Park in Boreham Wood. The Gunners also had the highest average attendance per game of any club in the four leagues, with 29,999 fans estimated to be at each home game. This was nearly 20,000 ahead of the next highest average recorded by Manchester United (10,951 fans).

Despite achieving the smallest increase in attendances, the Frauen-Bundesliga saw a ten per cent reduction in games attended by fewer than 1,000 fans. Two Circles reported there was growth achieved across the league to lift in-game crowds, with a higher number of games watched by between 1,000 and 5,000 supporters.

Two Circles also noted that European leagues achieved slower growth in crowds following the 2023 Fifa Women’s World Cup, compared to the Uefa Women’s Euros held in England the previous year. This was attributed to the difference in time zones and the geographical distance to World Cup hosts Australia and New Zealand.

However, the 2023/24 season also saw average attendances hold steady or grow from the first half of the campaign to the second half. This was in contrast to the previous campaign, which saw the WSL, Liga F and Frauen-Bundesliga all see a drop-off in their respective average attendances from the first to second half of the season.

Coming next:

Two Circles believes the Uefa Women’s Euros in Switzerland next year will likely help to boost attendances for the Swiss Women’s Super League and for leagues in other nearby regions.

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