Some good news about pay in women's football

[MrGHardy]

Arsenal Women's pay rises 30%

And it isn't just a case of trying to force equality, but is driven by actual revenue:

"Arsenal's women's team saw a 62% increase in turnover to £6.9m in the year to 31 May 2022, boosted by the £8m-a-year broadcasting deal agreed between the WSL, the BBC and Sky in 2021.

Matchday revenue also increased to £532,000, with four games held at the Emirates Stadium, attracting crowds of 10,000 or more.

This is expected to increase significantly this season, which has seen in excess of 50,000 tickets sold to watch Arsenal Women in action in a single game".

And the last part is pretty crazy, that is more than most PL men's teams get.

Although one has to be fair that the statement is misleading, the average is at 24k this season. Still higher than several men's PL teams, but some way off the 50k that was just a one-off. Also, Arsenal seem to be by far the best at gathering support for their women's team, the next highest attendance is Chelsea at only 10k average (though that is on par with the lowest men's attendances).

This is great news - great job by the marketing team to get bums on seats and this success is another step towards sustainability.
It will be very interesting to compare with this season when those figures become available.
I might look up the average attendance for a women's game in the WSL - I think it was 1000-2000 not long ago.

www.sportcal.com/comment/surge-in-wsl-match-attendances-demonstrates-growing-interest-in-womens-game/#:~:text=So%20far%20this%20season%2C%20the,on%20the%202021%2D22%20season.

Up to 6,000 on average per game in the WSL. Big increase!

Good for Arsenal women. Professional sport is a commercial business, and it’s right that if women’s teams are attracting more paying punters, more sponsors & more TV contracts, thereby generating more revenue, the players should benefit from that.

A 3-fold increase is no joke!

And underpinning all this, while yes the physical differences mean the women's game will never be as physical as the men's, but the huge money discrepancy does create a funding discrepancy that also contributes the difference in level of play. And this is something where the women can catch up if their game receives more funding. So hopefully the increase in spectators bring more money which leads to better footballing education which leads to better games which leads to even more spectators.

Yes, we have to hope that more and bigger sponsorship deals will = more money being spent on player coaching and development. The FA have plans in this area - dozens of development centres and some new centres of excellence - which will take the place of club academies and spread the talent ID net wider into more deprived areas.
I think there are also plans afoot to allow young players to sign pro contracts when they are 16 and to have scholarships, which will help stem the flow of young talent to American Universities. Don't quote me on that last bit, though!

Regarding the actual football, it will never be exactly the same - the men's game will always be faster and more physical - but we're starting to get the rivalries and history and emotional investment. Women's football is no longer just a niche thing or a "hipster" interest. And different is good!

The reason most men’s PL games don’t get 50,000 is that there are few stadiums that hold that many. Only seven men’s teams could possibly reach this figure (and they all do, even West Ham).

' Although one has to be fair that the statement is misleading, the average is at 24k this season. Still higher than several men's PL teams, but some way off the 50k that was just a one-off"

Not all games are held at the Emirates stadium, the others are held in Borehamd Wood and it less than a tenth of the size.

The Arsenal Women v Spurs Women was the one that broke the (modern) women's football attendance record. But I believe all of the three WSL games which have been held at the Emirates Stadium this season had attendances of at least 40,000.
Far fewer people turned up for the UWCL midweek matches which were also held there, so that was probably what brought the average down.
The women's usual stadium is selling out regularly too.