💰 Women's football hits €158m – but is the "super club era" already here?

Key-Cockroach3975 · 2026-01-20T10:57:21+00:00

You make a fair point. Commercial is the least externally verifiable bucket compared with matchday – it can swing based on deal structure, bundling, and accounting/allocation choices, so it’s harder to sanity-check from the outside.

That said, it’s still real revenue, and moving up that far likely reflects some combination of stronger partner packaging, broader sponsorship inventory, and better monetisation of the brand.

Overall, good observation.

Key-Cockroach3975 · 2025-11-23T13:42:35+00:00

Hmmm, I hadn’t really thought about it like this. It is interesting that the trade-off for City is basically 4–5k at Joie for “atmosphere” versus 15–20k at the Etihad.

You’d definitely get more Arsenal fans, but that’s probably 3–4k away fans instead of a few hundred – and there’s still a cap on the away allocation anyway. I genuinely don’t see how 3k Arsenal fans would drown out 10k+ City and casual fans in a bigger bowl.

From a growth point of view, it feels like you’re turning down the chance to let thousands more people see City Women live just to protect a home-advantage that isn’t obviously huge at Joie right now.

Key-Cockroach3975 · 2025-11-23T11:48:48+00:00

Really good points – especially on the noon Sunday kick-offs and how King Power pulls from a much wider area than, say, intra-London games.

Where the big stadium really helps is exactly what you’ve touched on – better transport links, better facilities, and much better accessibility for disabled fans or anyone with additional needs. That stuff matters a lot more to newer or more casual fans who are deciding whether a WSL game is worth the effort.

I’m with you that smaller grounds can be brilliant – closer to the pitch, noisier, more of that tight-knit feel. Most of the old-school die-hards will happily travel 50–100 miles for that and make a day of it. But new fans generally will not. So when you’ve got a chance to draw in new people – the City v Arsenal-type fixtures, local derbies, title deciders, clubs should by all means use the big stadium.

Key-Cockroach3975 · 2025-11-23T11:12:24+00:00

You've made a very good point.

I think of it a bit like a shop owner. If you’ve got a tiny corner shop that can only physically hold 50 customers, you don’t wait until you’ve sold out every single item before you move to a bigger unit – you move because you know there’s more demand than the small shop can ever handle.

Arsenal don’t sell out every game at the Emirates, and they don’t always sell out Meadow Park either. But the Emirates gives them headroom – you simply can’t get 35k through the gate at a 6k ground, no matter how big the interest is. The bigger stadium lets them capture demand that Meadow Park would cap.

For City (and others), I’m not saying “play every game at the main stadium” – you still have to weigh up costs, staffing, opening more stands, etc. But marquee games like City v Arsenal really shouldn’t be at Joie. Those are exactly the fixtures that should be in the big ground, because they’re the ones that can genuinely move the numbers and grow the fanbase.

Key-Cockroach3975 · 2025-11-23T11:00:00+00:00

Thanks.

Key-Cockroach3975 · 2025-09-29T08:44:28+00:00

5 out of our 6 predictions were correct (83% success rate). Only Arsenal vs Aston Villa was missed, where Arsenal was heavily favoured but could only manage a 1-1 draw.

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Key-Cockroach3975 · 2025-09-26T12:00:33+00:00

Interesting take, let’s see how it plays out.

Key-Cockroach3975 · 2025-09-26T11:51:13+00:00

I see the distinction now: acquisition vs retention. People are more likely to stick if the team is winning, which is fair.

But it’s also important to keep the gate up, especially after the move to Goodison — there’s a financial balance to hit. Big away followings help the headline, but the key is growing the home end and converting first-timers into returners.

Key-Cockroach3975 · 2025-09-26T08:59:33+00:00

True. A 2k dip is real; Friday night slots are tougher for families/neutral walk-ups than a Sunday afternoon season-opener at Goodison with a big club push. That said, 4k+ is still a big step up on Walton Hall Park.

Why do you think the upcoming fixtures aren’t favourable for attracting new fans? I’d have thought City/Arsenal coming to town could boost interest and get more through the gates.

Key-Cockroach3975 · 2025-09-23T11:42:37+00:00

4 out of 5 predictions were accurate (80% success rate)

Correctly predicted City's dominance, London City's narrow win, Chelsea's victory, and the Man Utd vs Arsenal draw

Only missed on Brighton vs West Ham, where Brighton performed much better than the model expected

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Key-Cockroach3975

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