Last night’s Rooftop Session in partnership with Sofar Sounds was a vibrant celebration of rising talent, with powerful performances from Hamzaa and Nippa. When we were selecting artists for the show, it was particularly interesting to observe how today’s creator-driven culture has enabled grassroots talent to build their profiles around the causes they care about. And it’s particularly inspiring how both these artists channel their personal journeys and advocacy for mental health into music that empowers and connects. Alongside their fresh sounds, they’ve shown how today’s creator culture enables talents to build meaningful profiles rooted in authenticity and the causes they champion, from resilience, wellbeing and healing to community empowerment.
For brands, partnering with new artists offers a unique opportunity to tap into that energy. Beyond fresh creative perspectives, they bring cultural relevance, highly engaged audiences, and the agility to co-create meaningful campaigns. Collaborating with artists at this stage of their journey allows brands to foster loyalty, demonstrate support for up and coming talent, and stay close to the conversations shaping culture right now.
From bucket-list moments like the Super Bowl, the Barmy Army’s curated cricket itineraries, and the Instagram-worthy glamour of the US Open, travelling for sport has long been a key part of the fan experience. But over the past few years, we’ve seen a shift in how rights-holders and brands are reimagining the sports arena to align with a new generation of fan profiles.
Sports tourism now represents around 10% of the global travel industry and is forecast to grow by 16.43% annually a year through to 2032, making it one of the fastest-growing segments in travel. For brands, this growth unlocks fresh opportunities to engage fans by building culturally connected experiences that capture the excitement and immersion fans increasingly seek.
Several forces have converged to put sports tourism at the heart of modern travel:
With this backdrop, sports tourism can be grouped into three broad categories: major events, destination events, and active events. Each offers brands unique ways to engage fans.
Major events like the Olympics, FIFA World Cup or Champions League finals, attract mass international attendance and dominate cultural conversations. While the cost of official sponsorship can be prohibitive, the growth of sports tourism allows non-sponsor brands to still play a meaningful role in the fan journey.
Paris 2024 Olympics
The Paris Games was a watershed moment, with the opening ceremony being held outside the stadium for the first time in modern Olympic history. Without a traditional Olympic Park, events were staged across the city in temporary sites, blending sport with iconic landmarks. This inspired brands to activate creatively beyond official zones, and tailoring experiences to a tourist sensibility.
The shift from centralised exhibition spaces toward brand-led consumer touchpoints reflects a larger trend: activations are moving from being property-led to being brand-led, where creativity, cultural relevance, and innovation drive engagement.
Looking ahead to Milan 2026 and Los Angeles 2028, we can expect the city-sport integration to become even more pronounced. Each host city will serve as a canvas for creative expression, offering opportunities for brands to deploy their budgets in effective ways.
UEFA Champions League
European football is built on matchday traditions, from local pubs to ritualistic routes to the stadium. These behaviours are integral part of the fan tourism experience, creating moments brands can authentically tap into.
The learning here is that cultural impact now outweighs proximity to the field of play. Success comes from understanding how fans interact with a host city and creating moments of surprise, shareability, and belonging along the way.
As events like Milan 2026 and Los Angeles 2028 embrace citywide formats, brands that treat the city itself as a creative playground will gain an edge. If you think back to your own holidays, often the most memorable moments are those that add unexpected cultural or interpersonal layers to the trip.
In some cases, the location itself is inseparable from the sport. These destination events blend heritage, culture, and competition, giving brands a chance to become an unmissable part of the environment.
Roland Garros
No other calendar moment is representative of a destination event like the Grand Slams. The Australian Open (a.k.a. “Happy Slam”) is famous for its festival atmosphere, while Wimbledon and the US Open are increasingly being referred to as the “runways of tennis”, where sport and high fashion come together. Though it’s Roland Garros, hosted amongst the spectacle and history of Paris, that epitomizes the destination event. The competition seamlessly embodies Parisian elegance where tennis meets haute couture, gastronomy, and fashion.
Singapore Formula 1
Catering to a growing younger F1 fanbase, the Singapore Grand Prix is a citywide celebration that happens to have a night race running through it. With sold-out podiums where approximately half are not locals, the majority of fans aren’t inside the track complex. Hospitality is so high that occupancy rates for trackside properties regularly hit 90–100%, while brands compete to outdo one another with ultra-exclusive social experiences:
The premium positioning does risk excluding local fans, with affordability cited as the main barrier to attendance for Singaporeans. Still, the appetite for luxury sport-tourism experiences remains insatiable, creating fertile ground for brand creativity.
Destination events show how place and experience can merge into powerful storytelling, illustrating that fans increasingly value the cultural context surrounding sport whether that’s the food, fashion, music, and nightlife which make each destination iconic. The insight: to win in destination sport tourism, brands must design experiences that feel native to the location, seamlessly blending the brand DNA with the atmosphere and aspirations of fans.
The final category is the active event (a term borrowed from The National Geographic), where travel and physical activities merge. These range from marathons and triathlons to wellness retreats and “mara-cations” – holidays built around running or cycling challenges. In the post-pandemic era, fans are choosing to go beyond passive participation in sport; they’re travelling to get involved in activities themselves.
For brands, these events offer a chance to align with values of personal achievement, health, and community; powerful, emotive drivers that extend well beyond traditional sponsorship and underscoring a shift from watching sport to living it. Fans now travel to test themselves, to join communities, and to collect experiences that feel personally transformative. Whether through co-creating training programs, offering recovery experiences, or celebrating the journeys of everyday athletes, the most resonant brands will be those that empower fans to see themselves not as audiences, but as part of the action.
Sports tourism offers a powerful lens for reimagining how brands activate around a sport. It gives fans a unique way to experience a culture, a city, and a lifestyle. Those who succeed will think ‘beyond the whistle’, understanding that official rights aren’t the only route to relevance. They’ll tap into lifestyle and cultural identity, embedding themselves throughout the fan journey, and they’ll design for a more diverse audience that reflects the rise of women’s sport, shifting life priorities, and younger fans redefining what it means to be a sports tourist.
The world’s largest member-based racing event – the Melbourne Cup – took place last week and central to their new proposition is “festival vibe” (as per CEO Kylie Rogers). Taking a page from the Australian Open and Melbourne F1, both of which are known for their multi-passion extravaganza across music, food and fashion, this year’s horse race will feature DJ’s, curated small plates and a renewed drinks offering. It will be interesting to follow their revamp and whether they can align to the sensibilities of a younger crowd.
And with two major events scheduled for next year: Winter Olympics in Milan and the FIFA World Cup across USA, Mexico and Canada, 2026 is set to be another landmark year for sports tourism, where being culturally connected and seriously effective will separate the brands who truly connect with fans.
For years, the industry’s focus on music and culture has been dominated by London. Outside of the London bubble there has always been amazing talent and a regional spread of iconic events, championed by artists like The Beatles, Oasis, The Arctic Monkeys, JADE and Sam Fender, but London has remained the industry’s hub. However, there is a shift happening. From leading venues to globally recognised awards, the industry’s focus is expanding beyond the M25 and with it comes the opportunity for brands to reach an incredibly engaged and loyal audience.
The opening of Manchester’s Co-op Live arena in 2024 marked a significant shift in the UK’s live touring landscape. Not only is the nation’s largest indoor arena now outside the capital, but it attracts global artists like Billie Eilish, Olivia Rodrigo and Sabrina Carpenter, with Billie holding four nights of her European tour at the arena this year. This confidence in Northern cities is echoed by fellow music industry bodies. Following the success of the 2023 Eurovision being hosted in Liverpool and the MOBO awards regularly being hosted in cities across the nation (Sheffield in 2024 and Newcastle in 2025), two other prominent award bodies have moved away from London and found homes in the North. Today, the Mercury Prize makes its debut in Newcastle, and next year, the BRIT Awards is leaving the capital for the first time to be hosted in Manchester. This signals a clear intent from the music industry to champion Northern cities whose cultural heritage have been instrumental in shaping the UK music scene.
Brands should take note. The often-overlooked Northern audience have a thriving interest in live music and entertainment, and they are just as loyal and engaged as their Southern counterparts. Festivals like Kendal Calling in the Lake District regularly sell out before announcing their line-up, a true testament to fan loyalty and an anomaly considering the hardships currently faced by festivals with over 200 shows cancelled since Covid. Similarly, Manchester’s ‘The Warehouse Project’ is a well-established player in live music and remains a popular staple for ravers across the UK. Recognising this demand, AEG has recently announced a new day festival series in Leeds’ Roundhay Park and Cupra have expanded their European music platform into Manchester with ‘Cupra FM’ at their City Garage location. With 9 in 10 music fans agreeing that brands can enrich their live music experience, this presents a prime opportunity for brands to engage with super loyal fan bases on a national scale.
And with this fan loyalty comes significant economic importance. Consumer spend on live music is at a record high of £6.68bn annually, with Manchester and Glasgow being the top 2 cities after London for their total spend – Manchester accounting for 8.1% of all UK spend on live music and Glasgow 5.7% (LIVE Report 2024). So it’s not just cultural value, there’s tangible economic benefits that live music brings, and as a recent report from AEG shows, live music is in the top 3 spending priorities for fans. What does this mean for brands? Music and festival partnerships are one of the strongest platforms to consider when aligning yourself to fan passion points. Providing an opportunity to target consumers in an emotionally charged setting, where they are more loyal and receptive to experiences. This immense passion and loyalty can help future proof your strategy when activated authentically.
When brands develop their activation plans and sponsorship strategies, they should consider what regions of the UK can help them achieve their business objectives; for some this may mean a London-centric approach, but for others who want to reach a larger UK demographic, embracing the Northern audience is vital. This sentiment is echoed at Superstruct UK where their festival portfolio includes events from the South coast up to Cumbria and Sheffield, ‘Being based in London means you sometimes lean more towards London shows but that isn’t always the best approach to brand partnerships. If you consider shows across the UK and in the North you can reach a wider audience and hit your brand objectives.’ Nick Lound, Creative & Strategy Lead, Superstruct. In Fuse’s own work with Vodafone we have assisted in ensuring their portfolio is diversified with a spread of shows across the Lake District, Cornwall, London and Somerset.
The North of England’s rich musical history and legacy proves that live music and entertainment is part of its cultural identity. The industry has now opened their eyes to the immense audience demand, recognising that underserving such a passionate fanbase is no longer an option. Brands who want to reach highly engaged audiences on a national scale should follow suit and invest where the culture is widening its focus, to an audience that is primed and invested in new music experiences.
Fight nights are no longer just sport – they’re culture.
What we saw last Saturday wasn’t just a boxing match. It was storytelling, music and high-end fashion combining to create an experience that reached far beyond boxing’s usual audience.
Saturday’s Eubank Jr vs Conor Benn fight highlighted how story now sits at the heart of modern sport, especially on a night where there wasn’t even a world title at stake. A huge part of the excitement came from everything leading up to the fight, not only the moment the bell rang.
Eubank Jr didn’t just walk out. He made an entrance. 50 Cent performed three tracks live, turning the ring walk into a full cinematic moment that dominated social feeds within minutes. The nostalgia ran deep too. Both Eubank Jr and Conor Benn walked out to songs linked to their fathers, whose rivalry defined a previous era. It added a layer of history that made the moment feel even bigger.
Music wasn’t the only cultural layer. Fashion played its part as well. Conor Benn’s Palm Angels kit is part of a wider shift in how fashion is showing up in boxing. We are now seeing runway-level integration, with fighters using the ring as a cultural stage. Canelo Álvarez walked out in Amiri, while Terence Crawford entered wearing an Everlast x Off-White robe featuring details from the brand’s Spring Summer 2026 collection during their fight earlier this year. It is a clear sign that fashion now sees fight nights as moments with cultural weight.
Some brands still hesitate around boxing, yet the crossover between sport, music and fashion continues to attract audiences far beyond traditional fight fans. This crossover also broadens how partners can show up, helping them connect through the music, fashion and moments fans are already engaging with beyond the fight itself.
The numbers also back it up. Millions tuned in across broadcast, social channels and streaming platforms. Highlights reached 1.3 million views in a single day, and pay-per-view buys are expected to surpass the 620,000 from their first matchup. With reach at this scale, fight nights become shared cultural events, which naturally creates opportunities for partners.
This is where boxing becomes interesting from a partnership perspective. The sport offers multiple touchpoints throughout fight week, from press conferences and weigh-ins to walkouts and fight kits, giving partners several natural moments to build visibility and tell a consistent story.
The upcoming Anthony Joshua vs Jake Paul fight underlines this shift even more clearly. It will stream globally on Netflix and is expected to be one of the most-watched boxing events in years. Jake Paul’s previous fight on the platform reached 108 million viewers worldwide, showing how far the sport can scale when positioned in a global entertainment environment. All of this shows how big fight nights are evolving into broader cultural moments where partners can play a more meaningful role.
The NFL, Apple Music, and Roc Nation are curating halftime shows that speak to culture, identity, and influence. Earlier this year Kendrick Lamar’s performance drew a record breaking 133.5 million viewers, more than the game itself, and delivered a performance packed with symbolism. It proved the Super Bowl stage could carry real cultural weight, secure mass viewership and spark global conversation.
Bad Bunny’s announcement as the 2026 headliner feels like a continuation of that shift. He’s not just Spotify’s most-streamed artist in the world three years running – he’s a cultural force, known for advocating for social equity and representation across underrepresented communities. His selection signals a broader ambition moving forward to ensure the halftime show is more than a music performance, but a global cultural movement.
K-Pop and Afrobeats – the summer of 2025 saw a surge of subgenres dominating the global mainstream charts louder than ever. Sony’s KPop Demon Hunters (distributed by Netflix) soundtrack created worldwide frenzy, topping charts worldwide and amassing over 3 billion streams in just two months, while Moliy & Silent Addy’s Shake It To The Max (FLY) – Remix broke out in Afrobeats, hitting Spotify’s Top 50 in 45+ countries and surpassing 500M streams by August.
For brands looking to connect with mega-engaged fans and cut through the noise, these subcultures – now global movements in their own right – hold the key. They’re full of active, passionate, and loyal fans who, when approached authentically, become the ultimate brand advocates.
The first edition of the newly revamped FIFA Club World Cup currently being played in the USA has been no stranger to controversy. Those in the world of football have taken aim at the increased workload for already stretched players;[1], reports have attendance sitting at just 57%,[2] and the political climate in which it is all taking part is another matter completely.
Despite this, the allure of more football for fans across the world has meant online engagement has remained high. As I write this, the @DAZNFootball channel has amassed over 170 million views in the past 30 days[3]. Unofficial channels, housing analysis, reaction, and highlights likely take online engagement well into the billions of views.
While the majority of these uploads are from legitimate football lovers, highlights of Juventus’ 3-2 win over Manchester City raised some questions from fans. The reason? The highlights were posted hours before the match was played.
By combining archive footage and video titles which, to someone who isn’t following the tournament closely, paint a picture of legitimate highlights, the channels recorded millions of views. This engagement, free from the competition of legitimate highlights – which would not be posted until after the match -leaned perfectly into the YouTube algorithm, with these fake videos often finding themselves in the top recommended clips for football fans across YouTube and Google search.
While the rise of ‘fake’ reactive content and deep fakes will likely have an impact across many industries, the world of sports and entertainment is particularly susceptible to falling victim. Over 35 billion hours of sport were consumed on YouTube in 2024[4] and, with more sport being played at any given time around the world, there will be no shortage of fans wanting to catch up on matches, only to realise after a few minutes they have been watching a match that was never played.
Similarly, over 50%[5] of YouTube’s 2.5 billion[6] users use the platform for music or podcasts. Deep fake audio from previous years has seen Bill Clinton cover Sir Mix-A-Lot but fake leaks and releases will almost certainly capture the attention of music fans in the coming years.
Ultimately, while fake highlight videos may be frustrating for football fans who have been swindled out of a few minutes of their lunch break, these videos also have a real impact for brands who are advertising on YouTube. A high-ranking video which passes YouTube’s checks will warrant higher CPMs for advertisers who, despite their best efforts, are essentially spending their advertising dollars on a ‘made for advertising’ scam.
This may not be a new notion in the world of programmatic advertising; however, with AI models able to scrape through hours of archive footage and produce believable video content that has the ability to bypass Google’s moderation, the need for attention when it comes to brand safety and suitability is as relevant as ever.
For official partners of football competitions, teams and players looking to build a credible reputation, ignoring these risks is counterproductive. While it may add a couple of cents on CPMs in the short term, the role of sponsorship as a long-term trust building project means the investment will pay dividends when building affinity with fans.
In an evolving digital media landscape where there is more fan-produced content than ever before, and it is increasingly easy to be fooled by misinformation, sponsors, agencies, and publishers must be proactive to ensure brand safety. While it may take time, accessing premium inventory across social media and the open web for sponsorship assets will ultimately lead to the development of an authentic voice and trust in the space.
[1] https://www.espn.co.uk/football/story/_/id/45604072/jurgen-klopp-expanded-club-world-cup-football-worst-idea
[2] https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/c74z8v15g8eo
[3] https://www.youtube.com/@DAZNFootball / Social Blade
[4] https://www.sportspro.com/news/youtube-big-screen-tv-sport-consumption/
[5] https://civicscience.com/interest-in-youtube-premium-stalls-into-2025-but-emphasizing-music-could-change-the-tune/
For much of the last decade, sports marketing followed a familiar script: globalisation, digital scale and steadily inflating rights fees. In 2025, that script broke. This year forced brands, rights-holders and investors to confront harder truths about attention, technology and value, and in doing so, it reset how sport is bought, sold and measured.
From AI finally becoming operational, to women’s sport crossing from promise to proof, 2025 redefined what counts as premium, measurable, and essential.
2025 will be remembered as the year AI stopped being a talking point and became infrastructure.
Across sport, AI moved out of pilots and into fan-facing reality: automated highlights, personalised feeds, conversational search and predictive performance tools became part of the everyday experience. Best-in-class broadcasters showed what that looks like in practice.
In the US, MLB delivered personalised daily video recaps tailored to individual fan behaviour, while ESPN integrated AI-driven predictive analytics into live NFL coverage. Closer to home, Wimbledon leveraged generative AI to automate highlights and enrich digital storytelling, extending the value of the live moment well beyond Centre Court.
Broadcasters leaned heavily into automated clips and data-led production to keep pace with social platforms, while clubs and leagues expanded personalised apps and direct-to-fan services.
As cookies continued to disappear and privacy regulation tightened, AI intermediaries filled the. gap. Fans increasingly consumed sport through personalised summaries, agent-driven recommendations and platform-level curation. That shifted the centre of gravity.
First-party data became the most valuable strategic asset in sport, not just for ticketing or CRM, but for sponsorship valuation and attribution. Rights-holders were no longer simply selling exposure; they were selling access to logged-in, addressable fan relationships.
Hot take: the most valuable sponsorships of the next cycle won’t be the loudest or most visible. They’ll be the most intelligently embedded into AI-mediated fan journeys.
If AI was the technological shift of 2025, women’s sport was the commercial one.
This was the year women’s sport stopped being “emerging” and started being essential inventory. In the UK, that shift was underpinned by success on the biggest stages: England lifted both the Women’s Rugby World Cup and the Women’s European Championship, proof that women’s sport delivers national moments, not just incremental growth.
Those wins translated commercially. UK football and cricket saw record audiences, while sponsorship interest broadened beyond traditional categories into technology and automotive brands.
The bigger shift? How brands framed the opportunity. The question shifted from ‘does it scale?’ to ‘what audience does it deliver?” In a fragmented attention economy, younger, more diverse and culturally engaged fans aren’t niche; they are strategically scarce.
2025 didn’t slow the growth of women’s sport. It normalised it. And in business terms, normalisation matters more than hype.
Hot take: within five years, brands will struggle to justify sports portfolios that don’t include women’s sport, not on values grounds, but on performance ones.
Digital still dominates headline spend, but 2025 exposed its limits. Brand safety concerns, diminishing returns and platform fragmentation pushed advertisers back towards environments that guarantee attention and trust.
In the UK, live sport benefited more than any other category. Premium football, cricket and Formula 1 regained board-level interest, particularly around marquee fixtures and tentpole moments. Broadcasters leaned on sport to hedge against audience fragmentation, while sponsors treated top-tier live events as fewer, bigger bets rather than spread commitments.
Scarcity accelerated a shift from badge-on-shirt sponsorships to performance-linked partnerships. Advertisers demanded clearer accountability, better data access and measurable outcomes. Rights-holders that could package broadcast, content and first-party fan data alongside visibility pulled ahead; others felt the squeeze.
The result was a familiar but sharpening dynamic: value concentrating at the top. Mega-properties commanded premiums, while mid-tier assets faced tougher questions on differentiation, diversification and survival.
Taken together, these shifts explain why 2025 feels different.
AI made personalisation unavoidable. Women’s sport proved commercially credible. Live sport reasserted its value as one of the few environments capable of delivering trusted, high-attention reach. And fragmentation killed the illusion that reach alone equals impact.
The winners of 2025 weren’t those chasing novelty, but those building systems: data-ready rights, culturally fluent creative and partnerships designed for accountability rather than optics. In a cautious UK economy, certainty became the premium product.
Final hot take: the next era of sports marketing won’t be defined by who spends the most, but by who understands their fans best.
If recent years were about momentum, 2025 was about recalibration. For an industry built on moments, this may prove to be the year that quietly changed everything.
In a world where attention is fractured and loyalty is fluid, one of the most powerful tools available to help marketers cut through isn’t new at all – it’s culture. More specifically, it’s the strategic blending of cultural passion points to create something richer than the sum of its parts.
The rise of crossover events shows how fandom itself has transformed. Fans today don’t live in silos. They don’t just follow boxing or football or streetwear – they follow individuals whose identities stretch across cultural lanes. Athletes are no longer defined solely by what happens in competition. Instead, their cultural value is shaped by how they live beyond it – what they wear, who they collaborate with, the music they share, the causes they champion and the content they create. A tennis star who cares about streetwear, a footballer who releases music, or a sprinter who collaborates with contemporary artists isn’t diluting their brand – they’re expanding it and creating a bigger, more diverse, more engaged following. This shift makes cultural crossovers not only possible, but essential.
As Anthony Joshua and Jake Paul step into the ring this weekend, the fight will be billed as a clash of two very different worlds: an elite heavyweight champion versus a creator-turned-contender, who built his career in the algorithmic arenas of social media. But the truth is far more interesting. This fight is not an anomaly or a sideshow. It is a defining moment in the evolution of sports entertainment – one where elite athletes and influencers now collide on equal footing.
Joshua vs Paul is the clearest signal yet that influencer culture has moved from the fringes of sport to the centre of its economics, audience reach and cultural meaning. What we’re witnessing is the rise of cultural crossover as a dominant force – where sport blends with entertainment, personality, fashion and digital fandom to create something bigger than any one discipline. This isn’t sport versus culture. It’s sport as culture.
Elite athletes are becoming influencers, and influencers are becoming athletes – and nowhere is this cultural realignment more visible than in golf. A sport defined by tradition and performance, it is now being reshaped by creators who command audiences on a scale that rivals, and often surpasses, the official tours. Content collectives like Bob Does Sports, GoodGood Golf and Grant Horvat each attract between 1.25 and 2 million YouTube subscribers – numbers comparable to the PGA Tour’s own following and significantly larger than those of most major golf rights-holders. But it’s not just reach that’s shifting the balance – it’s engagement. While the PGA and DP World Tour see tens of thousands of views on ten-minute highlight videos, the leading golf creators routinely pull in millions for content that stretches well beyond half an hour. Their audiences aren’t passing through – they’re staying.
This gravitational pull has already begun reshaping the sport’s ecosystem. Barstool Sports’ recent “Internet Invitational,” a three-day event featuring 48 golf creators, didn’t even stream live. Instead, the footage was crafted into six episodic cuts, each running two to three hours. The result was an average of four million views per episode and some of the most engaged golf storytelling online. Brands like Dunkin’ Donuts and DraftKings were woven into the narrative seamlessly, benefiting from exposure that felt native rather than intrusive. The lesson is clear: audiences gravitate toward formats that make them feel closer to the action and closer to the personalities shaping it.
And so the Joshua vs Paul fight underscores a broader truth – sport can no longer be separated from the cultural forces that surround it. It is entertainment. It is digital storytelling. It is identity. The future of fandom is fluid, and those willing to play at the intersections will find themselves not just reflecting culture, but creating it. Traditional sport is no longer the default destination for fandom – cultural crossover is.
Luke Bliss, Managing Partner at the sports and entertainment agency Fuse, reckons that tips from the pros can only get you so far. “You often hear stories of community leagues where the player with the least knowledge of football, and indeed the least interest in the data, is inexplicably leading the pack,” he says. “The bigger challenge is keeping the casual fan engaged for the entire season.”
“FPL has the unique ability to appeal simultaneously to avid players (the data-nerds) and the casual fan,” he says. “The user experience has become much simpler over time; the ‘mobile-first’ approach to the platform has made FPL accessible to anyone, anywhere, anytime.”
England’s victory at Euro 2025 was not just a win on the pitch; it was a cultural milestone. From full stadiums to national pride, the Lionesses captivated the country. Across 29 of 31 matches, fans filled every seat, with total attendance reaching 650,000, and the Women’s Champions League final drew record viewing figures.
Suddenly, women’s football was not just a game; it was a phenomenon. Young girls everywhere declared their ambition to be the next Lioness, with research showing unprecedented engagement with the sport.
Yet, as electrifying as the international stage has been, the domestic game is quietly building its own powerful narrative. The Women’s Super League (WSL) is evolving, and while there have been growing pains, the league is laying the foundation for long-term success.
Last season’s dip in attendance reflects the natural ebb and flow of a developing sport, but it also underscores the opportunity for renewed investment and innovation. Clubs like Chelsea and Manchester United are also under increasing pressure to elevate their women’s teams, and this scrutiny is driving change.
Where clubs are still finding their footing, brands are stepping in and filling the gaps, offering not just financial backing but also strategic support. This signals a shift in sponsorship where it moves beyond visibility and into meaningful investment in the women’s game ecosystem.
Turning momentum into action
The Lionesses’ triumph generated unprecedented momentum, but governance and club-level investment have yet to catch up. Clubs are not required to disclose how much they invest in their women’s teams, and often investments are tied to financial manoeuvring rather than a genuine commitment to the game. Chelsea’s ownership structure for their women’s team exemplifies this, revealing that the women’s side can sometimes exist primarily to optimise resources for the men’s team.
Progress is beginning to emerge. Minimum salaries have been introduced in the WSL, marking a step towards professional parity. With continued action at both club and league levels, the WSL is poised to become an inspiring benchmark for women’s football.
Why brands are stepping up
Brands are increasingly recognising that investment in women’s football is more than sponsorship; it is a chance to shape culture and create meaningful connections. Nike’s initiative to provide free boots to every WSL player is both symbolic and practical, offering tangible support to athletes while sending a powerful message about the value of women’s football.
Recognising this potential, Nike has now extended its partnership to supply boots and match balls for players across the top two divisions, reinforcing its commitment to the professional game.
Adidas paired players like Lena Oberdorf and Delphine Cascarino with creators, musicians and fans, blending football with lifestyle in ways that amplify the sport’s reach. PepsiCo highlighted players such as Vivianne Miedema and Alexia Putellas, sharing personal stories that resonate beyond the pitch, while Just Eats’ fan zones at the Euros created immersive, authentic experiences combining food, football and culture.
British Gas, entering as a WSL sponsor this season, has committed to enhancing grassroots engagement, helping fund local teams, training and community programmes. E.l.f Cosmetics’ back-of-shirt partnership with Tottenham Hotspur Women also marks a significant moment in the commercial evolution of the WSL, as it shows the women’s game’s ability to attract new audiences and challenge traditional boundaries between sport and beauty. It not only elevates Spurs Women’s profile but also reinforces the WSL’s positioning as a culturally relevant league. Beauty brands are recognising that women’s football is a vehicle for influence and inclusion.
Players themselves are becoming brands. Leah Williamson has developed her own profile beyond football, combining ambassador roles, personal partnerships, and community engagement to become a leading voice in the women’s game. When brands invest in players as individuals, they help elevate the entire game, increasing visibility and generating fan loyalty that can translate into higher attendance and viewership.
Protecting the Lionesses’ legacy
The Lionesses’ victory ignited a surge in interest, and women’s football is more culturally relevant than ever. But without consistent investment, that momentum risks being squandered. Brands can help bridge the funding gap, ensuring progress in wages, facilities, grassroots pathways, and fan accessibility. Partnerships can take many forms. They can supply equipment to players at all levels, create engaging fan experiences, or provide ambassador roles that build profiles and open up new revenue streams.
For players like Leah Williamson, these ambassador roles are not just marketing; they are platforms to inspire, advocate, and shape the narrative of women’s football. These initiatives can turn individual star power into league-wide growth, helping to secure the legacy of the Lionesses for future generations.
Next steps for clubs
While brands have shown appetite and creativity in supporting women’s football, clubs cannot rely solely on external investment. The disparity between men’s and women’s football remains stark. Male footballers in England earn nearly 17,000% more than their female counterparts, and grassroots support lags far behind.
Across the UK, 64% of women’s teams lack a trainer, 43% struggle to find referees, and over half of players pay for their own kits, with one in 10 going without. In some areas, the absence of local teams or enough players to form a squad prevents women from playing at all, while childcare and travel barriers further restrict participation.
For the WSL to continue the women’s game’s upward trajectory, clubs can align with the ambition shown by players, fans, and forward-thinking sponsors like Nike, British Gas, and others. Equal urgency, investment, and infrastructure are essential at both professional and grassroots levels. The Lionesses have sparked a movement – and with collective action, the WSL can ensure that this enthusiasm becomes lasting progress.
The Lionesses brought football home and, in doing so, inspired a generation. Now the question is whether that legacy will endure. Brands like Nike and British Gas are stepping up, investing in players and connecting the sport with broader culture. The league and clubs must follow suit, investing in talent, infrastructure, and communities before the momentum is lost.
The Lionesses have shown what women’s football can achieve on the world stage. With consistent, authentic support from both brands and clubs, the WSL has the potential to flourish, ensuring that women’s football remains a permanent fixture in the national imagination. The ball is now in the league’s court.
