There is a lot of excitement surrounding the Women’s Euro as the tournament has already started. The popularity of Women’s Euro 2022 is clear from the fact that tickets for the final at Wembley Stadium were sold out within hours.
Could the Euro 2022 tournament serve as the impetus for a change in the future of female footballers? Let’s dive into this and find out.
The Growing Popularity of Women in Football
With the excitement that can be seen around Women’s Euro 2022, the popularity is higher than ever. It’s no longer a “men’s game.” There’s even been a lot of talk about the greatest women in football.
To put this in perspective, the tournament’s first game, which was held on July 1, was completely sold out. The seats for England’s group games are all taken. The Wembley final has sold out. People have already bought more than 400,000 tickets in total.
UEFA’s official website has reported that a crowd of 68,781 people emerged to watch England vs. Austria opening match. The number of spectators surpassed the previous record of 41,301, which was reached when Germany defeated Norway in the 2013 final in Sweden.
More Women Joining Football
The 2019 FIFA World Cup victory for England sparked a new generation of women’s football supporters. With the World Cup triumph, Women’s Euro 2022 has a boundless potential to encourage many young women to play football.
UEFA’s chief of women’s football, Nadine Kessler, has gone ahead and said that this season of Women’s Euro 2022 will set records and will be ground-breaking.
Leytonstone FC chairman Munaf Abraham concurs that his club, which is anchored in the neighbourhood’s South Asian community, established girls’ and women’s teams 18 months ago, and the growth since then has been “absolutely insane.”
He talks about how not many South Asian women were earlier interested in playing football; however, this year, the applications from South Asian women have outnumbered the male applications. This alone goes out to show how Euro 2022 is making strides of change.
Support for Women’s Football
With more leagues like Euro 2022 gaining popularity, a surge in support for women’s football can be seen.
In September of 2019, UEFA announced an initiative called Football in Schools. This initiative included funding of about 11 million euros over a period of four years to improve the state of football in schools.
Along with funding for schools, the FA recently unveiled the Empowering for Success strategy, which calls for the Premier League to contribute £1 million to English women’s football’s third and fourth tiers over the course of the next three years.
Nigel Huddleston, the UK’s minister of sport, has emphasized that the government is “totally behind women’s sport in every area.” All games will be available to watch on the BBC during this year’s Euro’s free-to-air television broadcast in the UK.
With more popularity in women’s football, there will be a surge in betting on women’s football as well. Join the excitement and get your bets in at BetMGM sportsbook Ontario. This could be the perfect way to spend your evenings this July!
The European Women’s Championship has left a rich legacy in the history of football, and Euro 2022 will be no different, establishing new standards for the management of all women’s sporting events. Prepare to enjoy every second of a fantastic football celebration.
