JAKARTA - Women's football will be one of the top five sports in the world by 2030. This prediction was revealed through a Nielsen Sports report in collaboration with PepsiCo.
The global supporter base is projected to grow by 38 percent to reach more than 800 million people.
About 60 percent of these supporters are projected to be women, according to a report entitled Undervalued to Unstoppable, which was released on Tuesday, June 17, 2025.
That potential means making women's football one of the few sports that women have followed over men.
Global broadcast audiences are also expected to increase by 30 percent across major tournaments by 2030.
According to the study, the sponsorship agreement tripled for the 2023 Women's World Cup from the 2019 edition, which was only a small part of the global sponsorship budget allocated for women's football.
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Researchers argue this presents a significant opportunity considering women are projected to push more than 75 percent of household purchase decisions by 2028.
"We have long believed in the potential of women's football. Today, we are no longer just tracking progress, we are witnessing a breakthrough."
"From media rights to sponsorship and involvement of supporters, this is no longer a case of future promises, but a current value," said Samantha Lamberti, Executive Director of Nielsen Sports International.
Women's football has become one of the 10 most followed sports globally and its momentum appears to be under construction.
The audience for the US-based National Women's Soccer League last year saw an 18 percent increase from the previous year.
Disney+ announced last month an agreement to broadcast women's Champions League matches across Europe.
Alexis Ohanian, co-founder of Reddit and husband of great tennis player Serena Williams, acquired shares in the Women's Super League (WSL) champions Chelsea, in the same month.
Deloitte recently reported that WSL's revenue rose by 34 percent during the record-breaking 2023/2024 season. The latest estimate is that the WSL club's total revenue will reach a record 100 million pounds (135.9 million US dollars) in the 2025/2026 season.
However, the number of WSL spectators has decreased after peaking in 2023/2024 after the 2023 Women's World Cup, but is expected to increase again after Euro Women next month in Switzerland.
Nielsen reported a surge in interest in major tournaments. Switzerland increased its women's football supporters base by 22 percent in 2024 ahead of the Euros.
While interest in Britain increased 15 percent over two years after Britain's Euro 2022 victory.
According to Nielsen, women's football has increased women's supporters by 60 percent over the past five years.
The strongest moment is in China with 186 million new supporters during that period. Increased interest also occurred in China by 300 percent.
Participation is also increasing in Europe, France -- with a 150 percent spike -- Spain (95%), the Netherlands (25%), and the UK (24%) which is the highest increase since 2019.
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