Everybody Watches Women's Sport

Some links may help generate a commission that supports The Addition.

I have, unsurprisingly, just returned from The Mall in central London. The Lionesses were there celebrating winning their second Euros title. Alongside me were 65,000 others enjoying the parade.

Today’s festivities followed a record-breaking competition. A peak of 16.2 million watched Sunday’s final across the BBC and ITV. The BBC had a peak of 12.2 million viewers across its platforms. ITV’s coverage reached a peak of 4.2 million, attracting an average of 2.3 million viewers across all devices. The broadcaster also said that it picked up 25% of those watching the final on TV. That is a 5% increase from the 2023 World Cup final, which the Lionesses lost to Spain.

Furthermore, The BBC revealed that Euro 2025 was streamed 15.5 million times across the iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app. Around 20% of those were in the crucial 16-35 demographic. These are all big numbers that provide a fantastic platform for the WSL season starting on 5th September with revamped kick-off times.

Euro 2025 Starts Summer of Women’s Sport

The success of Euro 2025 should also help the rest of the women’s sport taking place this summer. The Tour de France Femmes is on now. (Watch on TNT Sports/Discovery+). The Women’s Rugby World Cup begins in England on 22 August and The Red Roses have a fantastic chance of lifting the trophy. (Watch on BBC.) In golf, the Women’s Open starts on Thursday at Royal Porthcawl in Wales. (Watch on Sky Sports Golf.)

It was amazing to see all sorts of people of all ages and backgrounds celebrating the Lioness’s latest success on The Mall. There were kids in shirts with the names of female players, not men, on the back. I sported Toone, Russo and Beever-Jones shirts. This is a huge cultural shift. Those who complain that women’s football is being “shoved down our throats” should take some time to go and see how it’s being embraced, instead of moaning on their Twitter accounts and podcasts.

Yes, the media is working to promote women’s football and women’s sport more broadly. However, this would not make much difference if fans were ultimaly disinterested. The broadcasts would simply not reach the viewership levels we’ve seen over the last couple of weeks.

The game has changed. Everybody watches women’s sport now.