UEFA Women’s EURO 2022 expected to deliver $95 million in revenue to host cities

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Image credit: Naomi Baker

The Football Association England and UEFA have announced that the UEFA Women’s EURO 2022 tournament is set to be the biggest women’s European sporting event in history.

The Pre-tournament Impact Report, produced by EY, projected that the tournament is expected to deliver £54 million (just over $95 million AUD) in economic activity to the nine Host Cities of Brighton & Hove, London, Manchester, Milton Keynes, Rotherham, Sheffield, Southampton, Trafford and Wigan & Leigh.

The Host Cities are expecting 96,000 international visitors from 95 territories and there will be engagement from fans from all over the world as the international broadcast audience could reach over 250 million across more than 195 territories. Host cities will also see a positive socio-economic impact thanks to over 5,500 people taking part in the volunteer programme.

The report reveals ticket sales for the tournament are on track to double the attendance of the UEFA Women’s EURO 2017 in the Netherlands that welcomed just over 240,000 fans. 51% of football fans plan to attend or watch the games that will take place up and down the country across nine English cities in 10 stadiums.

Providing a platform for greater participation in the game and community engagement, the tournament also represents a huge opportunity to drive a further step change in women’s football in England.

The UEFA Women’s EURO 2022 aims to leave a lasting legacy by inspiring the next generation of players and fans, providing opportunities for more than 500,000 women and girls to participate and engage with football through focused efforts of legacy groups within each of the Host Cities, with many more additional opportunities nationally.

Baroness Sue Campbell, EURO 2022 Board Member and Director of Women’s Football at The FA, said:

“With less than 50 days to go until the Tournament gets underway, this report highlights what we can achieve with a continued focus on capitalising on the opportunities offered by UEFA Women’s EURO England 2022 and importantly how we can measure our success.

“Our aim is twofold: to deliver a record-breaking tournament and to leave a tangible legacy to grow the women’s game. By inspiring fans at home and abroad, and by committing to provide playing opportunities to girls in every school and club across the country, I am confident we can deliver on both aims.”

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Middle Park FC and South Melbourne FC partner in free All Abilities Football program

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Image Credit: South Melbourne FC

Middle Park FC and South Melbourne FC are teaming up to make football more inclusive for children across the community. South Melbourne’s free All Abilities Football Program, launched in 2018, will now be launched at Middle Park FC, giving neurodivergent and disabled children more opportunities to play football in a fun, welcoming and supportive environment.

The program will run on Saturdays from 17 October to 7 November 2026 at Alan Davidson Field in Albert Park, with sessions taking place from 10-11am. The initiative aims to help more children experience the benefits of community football, while ideally creating a pathway towards ongoing participation in the sport.

Football for every ability

The All Abilities Football Program welcomes children of all abilities, whether new to football or those who already love the game. Coaches from Middle Park FC and South Melbourne FC will deliver the sessions, helping participants develop football skills, build confidence and enjoy playing with others. The program places inclusion at its heart, aiming to create an environment where every child can participate, learn at their own pace and feel part of a team. This includes both blind and powerchair football, both of which South Melbourne has championed.

There is no participation fee to attend the sessions, giving families an opportunity to introduce their children to the sport without the financial commitment often associated with organised sport.

Building confidence and community connections

Sport can help children develop important social skills, form friendships and build confidence. A welcoming football environment can also give children opportunities to work with others, practice communication and celebrate achievement. For neurodivergent and disabled children, inclusive sporting opportunities can help create a stronger sense of belonging. They can take part in a team environment that recognises different abilities and encourages participation.

Families can also benefit from connecting with local clubs and other community members. These relationships can help build support networks and encourage more families to become involved in grassroots sport. The partnership between Middle Park FC and South Melbourne FC highlights how community clubs can work together to reduce barriers and create more inclusive opportunities.

Details

The free All Abilities Football Program will run across four Saturday sessions.

Dates: 17th October, 24th October, 31st October and 7th November 2026.

Time: 10-11am

Location: Alan Davidson Field, Fields 18 and 19, Aughtie Drive, Albert Park, Victoria 3206

How to register

Families can register their children through the online registration form shared by Middle Park FC and South Melbourne FC. The clubs have provided a Google Forms registration link in their original announcement. Families should use the form linked through the clubs’ official social media posts to access the full registration details. The link can also be found here.

The clubs also encourage families to share the opportunity with schools, support organisations and community groups that may know children who would benefit.

Creating a More Inclusive Football Community

The partnership between Middle Park FC and South Melbourne FC is an important step towards making grassroots football accessible to more children and those who are disabled. By offering free sessions in a supportive environment, the clubs are helping children build skills, make friends and experience the joy of playing football. The message is simple: everyone deserves the opportunity to belong, participate and thrive through sport.

Netflix’s Women’s World Cup deal puts IMG’s technology in the spotlight

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Netflix’s first exclusive football deal will see the next year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup at the centre of it’s live-sport strategy. The US-streaming service company has appointed IMG as its production partner for all 64 matches in Brazil, as well as more than 100 hours of live studio programming. The deal includes English and Spanish coverage for viewers within the US, and English and French-language coverage for those in Canada. IMG will also support Netflix’s coverage of the tournament’s draw in December.

The 2027 Women’s World Cup runs from June 24 to July 25 across eight host cities, and will be the first edition to feature 32 teams. The scale of the tournament makes it an ambitious first foray into sports broadcasting for Netflix – which means IMG’s involvement will be of great significance.

IMG’s production engine

IMG has built its reputation on producing and distributing live sport at scale. It’s Stockley Park, London facility includes broadcast studios, production galleries, edit suites and facilities for radio, podcasting, dubbing and visual effects. The company has worked across major properties including the Premier League, Major League Soccer and other international sporting events.

For a World Cup, this infrastructure provides more than a place to make television; it creates a central point where production teams can manage feeds, graphics, replays, commentary, editing and distribution while events are taking place thousands of kilometres away.

Remote production is the key

The most important technology for a tournament spread across eight Brazilian cities is connectivity. IMG has invested in remote-production workflows that allow production teams to work across locations, rather than putting every specialist inside each stadium. Its wider production operation has used fibre, satellite, cloud and IP-based connectivity to move live signals between venues and production centres.

That model can reduce the amount of equipment and specialist staff required at every venue while allowing senior producers, directors, replay operators and graphics teams to work from centralised facilities. IMG has also demonstrated long-distance IP production, including a 20,000-kilometre link between Tokyo and London that carried uncompressed, low-latency video. For Netflix, those capabilities are particularly relevant. The platform is building a single viewing experience for audiences in two markets, but the raw ingredients will come from stadiums spread across Brazil. A resilient network becomes just as important as the cameras themselves.

From stadium to stream

The technology chain does not end when the pictures leave the venue. A modern sports production operation has to manage ingest, replay, media asset management, graphics, audio, quality control, archiving and transmission. IMG’s facilities have been built around those workflows, with master control and transmission capabilities alongside post-production and archive operations.

That infrastructure also gives IMG the ability to turn the live tournament into a wider stream of content. A goal can become a replay, a highlight, a social clip or part of a studio package without waiting for the match to finish. For Netflix, that fits a platform built around on-demand discovery as much as live viewing.

A new test for Netflix

Netflix has already made a significant investment in football through documentaries and other programming. The 2027 Women’s World Cup takes it up a level. FIFA describes the agreement as the first competition Netflix has acquired in full, making the tournament a major test of its live sports operation. IMG therefore has a job that goes beyond producing 64 matches; it must help Netflix build the technical backbone for a month-long, multi-venue broadcast, while maintaining consistent production standards across languages and locations.

The viewer may simply press play and see a World Cup match appear instantly. Behind that button will be a complex network of cameras, connectivity, control rooms, production systems, people and data. That is the real significance of Netflix’s IMG deal: the streamer is bringing the tournament to its platform, but IMG is providing much of the machinery that can make a global football event feel seamless.

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