UEFA Women’s Champions League final sets record cumulative viewership

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The recent UEFA Women’s Champions League final between Olympique Lyon and Barcelona accumulated a record-setting viewership of 3.6 million globally.

As revealed by sports streaming media company DAZN, the cumulative viewership marks a 56 per cent increase in audience compared to the final of the elite European women’s club soccer competition last season.

The figure covers DAZN’s over-the-top (OTT) platform and its Women’s Champions League YouTube channel, as well as 11 free-to-air (FTA) channels in Europe.

The 2021/22 campaign was the first in DAZN’s multi-year partnership with UEFA and YouTube, which made the entire competition available for free globally.

Total engagement for the season’s 61 matches – including highlights, player interviews and other original content – clocked 64 million views on DAZN’s platforms from more than 230 countries and territories. Of that, 4.1 million live views are attributed to last weekend’s final between Olympique Lyonnais and Barcelona.

In the last three months of the season, more than 12.3 million unique viewers visited DAZN’s Women’s Champions League YouTube channel to watch the knockout round fixtures, final and original content.

Ahead of the final on May 21, DAZN confirmed a host of sublicensing deals with traditional linear networks across Europe to air the match. In the UK, the game was watched by a live peak audience of 372,000 on ITV4.

“This first season as the global broadcaster of the UEFA Women’s Champions League has been a tremendous success and reflects DAZN’s commitment to close the coverage gap between women’s and men’s sports,” said Shay Segev, chief executive of DAZN Group Chief Executive Shay Segev said in a statement.

“We are invigorated about year two and look forward to engaging even more audiences as we further contribute towards building popularity in women’s football.”

UEFA chief of women’s football Nadine Kessler added:

“Together with DAZN and YouTube, who streamed all matches for free to a global audience, we managed to give the women’s game the exposure it deserves. Through this we keep changing perceptions.

“The mutual investment together with our broadcast and sponsorship partners and clubs is the basis for inspiring young girls and boys to follow the game and to dream of becoming professionals themselves.”

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Manchester City Begins Work on New Women’s Training Facility

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Image Credit: Manchester City website

Manchester City is in the development stage of building the Manchester City Women’s team a new purpose-built training facility at the City Football Academy, known as the club’s training centre.

The project, valued at up to $20.5 million, is set to open next season and marks the latest chapter in the club’s ongoing investment in top-tier facilities for the team.

Once completed, the facility will include a hydrotherapy area, a high-performance gym, and a circular dressing room designed to enhance player development.

In addition to their purpose-built facility, the Women’s First Team will continue to benefit from being an integral part of the $409 million City Football Academy, allowing them to utilise the organisation’s extensive resources and expertise.

To mark the beginning of construction, club captain Alex Greenwood was joined by Managing Director Charlotte O’Neill, Director of Football Therese Sjögran, and Director of Performance Services Emma Deakin for the official groundbreaking ceremony.

Club Captain Alex Greenwood reflects on the current facilities at the club and her excitement for the new development that is on the rise.

“Right from the start we’ve been involved quite a lot so we could discuss what’s going to be in there and what’s necessary. From what I know the facilities are going to be the best, which is nothing short of what I expect. I’m excited to see how it’s going to look,” she said via press release.

The facility has been specifically tailored to meet the needs of the team, with extensive consultation undertaken during the planning phase, including input from First Team Multi-Disciplinary experts and members of the playing squad.

The 17,000-square-foot building has also been designed with future expansion in mind as the team continues to grow.

Managing Director at Manchester City Women Charlotte O’Neill commented on the new facility and the beginning of its construction.

“Over the past decade, the team has benefited from being a part of the high-performance environment here, working with some of the very coaches, practitioners and support staff, as well as accessing some of the best facilities,” she said via press release.

“But the time feels right for the team to move into our own purpose-built home, and we think we’ve designed something really special that will help us in our efforts to consistently challenge for major titles.”

The new facility reaffirms Manchester City’s commitment to women’s football, aiming for success and growth through providing an environment to support the team’s future ambitions.

OFC UN Women Partnership for Gender Equality

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OFC UN Women
Image Credit: OFC website

The Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) and UN Women have renewed a memorandum of understanding to improve gender equality across the Pacific.

Having first joined forces in 2022, the reinvigorated partnership will enable both organisations to tackle gender-based violence and discrimination by empowering women and girls on and off the pitch.

UN Women will support the OFC through the Pacific Partnership to End Violence Against Women and Girls (Pacific Partnership) programme, an initiative predominantly resourced by the Australian Government alongside the European Union and organised by UN Women and the Pacific Community (SPC), in a strategic partnership with the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF).

UN Women Fiji Country Office Representative, Delphine Serumaga outlined why the UN elected to continue the partnership with the OFC.

In the Pacific Islands, sports play an important role in shaping attitudes, values and behaviours that can promote gender equality and prevent violence against women and girls. UN Women is pleased to support OFC and the member associations in their commitment to make football safe, equal and inclusive,” she said in a press release.

OFC General Secretary Franck Castillo expressed how vital it was to have continued support from UN Women to progress the Confederation’s work.

“Gender equality has taken an even greater focus in our region following the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023, the first senior FIFA World Cup to be held in Oceania. The development and launch of This Is How We Football as one of our legacy programmes is a testament to this,” he said in a press release.

“Using the power of football to drive gender equality also means continuing to develop women’s football from grassroots to the elite level. Ensuring girls and women have the opportunity to perform on the field is a key part of our work to change attitudes and perceptions.

“We’ve achieved a lot in our partnership with UN Women so far and are excited to continue building on those foundations.”

The This Is How We Football initiative is a Football for Good programme designed to tear down barriers preventing women and girls from playing football. Implemented in eight countries in 2024 (Solomon Islands, Tahiti, Vanuatu, Samoa, New Caledona, Fiji, Tonga and Kiribati), the programme will add a ninth in 2025 with the addition of Papua New Guinea.

In combination with the OFC’s Just Play programme, both initiatives have rapidly improved capacity building for women. Of the 600 participants for volunteer and coaching courses in 2024, 65% were female.

Furthermore, the OFC and UN Women partnership has already achieved a litany of major successes, such as the Gender Equality Playbook 2022, The Power of Football 2023 social responsibility strategy, a localised 16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence Campaign and a range of regional workshops to support women across the Confederation.

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