Over the last decade, women’s football has developed from being an used-case to becoming a structured business attracting asset-class investment. A measure of why women’s football is attracting significant investments can be ascertained by the astonishing growth recorded by the 15 highest revenue generating women’s clubs. Since 21/22, aggregate revenue of these clubs have been growing at an astonishing 44% CAGR, closing 24/25 with €157mn cumulative revenue.
The increase in revenue, rising fan-interest levels, increasing viewership and attendances, high-decibel public discussions has led to women’s football beginning to stand on its own feet. It has reached the stage where dedicated investment funds are being planned exclusively for them. At the present moment, there are five active multi-club investment groups operating dedicatedly across women’s football.
All the above factors, however, does not take away from the fact that in sports, women still remain significantly under-represented in leadership positions. As per a survey carried out by Sports Integrity Global Alliance (SIGA) in 2023, data provided by the 31 largest international Olympic federations reveals that only 32% of executive positions in international federations are held by women. Although the picture has improved considerably since 2018 when representation was mere 18.3%, in leadership positions namely Presidents, the representation is 10% and in case of CEOs / Secretaries-General position, it is 16.7%. In football, the most popular sport on the planet, women remain significantly underrepresented in coaching and leadership roles. According to FIFA, women make up only around 5 per cent of registered football coaches worldwide.
In this blog, we look at women leadership in football business and need to put more emphasis in it.
Leadership Roles
It would be fair to say that consistent efforts have been made to improve the presence of women in leadership roles in football. From the fact that FIFA had no women on its Executive Committee for over 100 years to May 2024, where 83% of member associations already had at least one female executive committee member, there has been a decent progress in the journey. That said, there is still a long way to go.
In the coaching department, women make up only around 5 per cent of registered football coaches worldwide according to FIFA. In the Women’s Super League (WSL), only four out of the 12 head coaches in the are women (data is up to 25/26 season; the number of participating teams has increased to 14 from the 26/27 season). Recorded statistics show that the number of female coaches in the UK dropped from 44% in 2022 to 38% in 2024.
In the leadership area, as per the Deloitte report of 22/23 season published in 2024, the average number of female representation on the club’s board amongst the twenty highest revenue generating clubs is a dismal 15%. Further, breaking it down:
- 6 clubs had no female representation.
- 3 clubs had less than 10% female representation.
- 4 clubs had 20%-25% female representation.
- Only 2 clubs had 40% female representation in the board.
WSL and Liga F: Two Leading Leagues
The professional restructuring of women’s football in Europe began with the implementation of a new governance structure at the top of the women’s game in the UK. In November 2023, the FA announced that all WSL and WC clubs had unanimously agreed to proceed with the formation of a new independent company which went on to adopt Women’s Super League Football (WSL Football) as its name overseeing the top tiers of women’s professional football
In Liga F, the professional women’s football governing structure in Spain, received a shot in the arm with a €55mn investment from Gasol16 Ventures together with Fortified Partners. Primarily designed as a medium to connect social impact with value creation. The investment would focus on matchday experience, sporting performance, digital and commercial growth, infrastructure, and the professionalisation of organisational structures and human resources, as said by Liga F president Beatriz Álvarez.
Setting the foundation of a professional structure of women’s football in the two most prominent women’s football leagues at club level, the challenge still remains on the female leadership participation. Some data shared by Football Benchmark in a recently released report shows:
- Across the 12 WSL clubs, 7 of the senior leaders responsible for women’s football are women (58%) and 5 are men (42%). In Spain’s Liga F, of the 16 senior figures leading women’s football operations, 10 are men (63%) and 6 are women (37%).
- 50% of WSL’s senior leaders have previous experience working directly in the women’s game, while the other half come from broader football or business backgrounds. In Spain’s Liga F, of the 16 senior figures overseeing women’s football, 14 (88%) have prior experience in the women’s game and only 2 (13%) do not. As stated by the report – a direct comparison with WSL profiles would be misleading, as most Liga F clubs still lack dedicated management structures for their women’s football sections.
- Only 1 of the 12 WSL leaders has a professional playing background. In Spain’s Liga F, 7 of the 16 senior leaders (44%) have a playing background.
Need of Women Leaders
It has been historically proved that women leaders typically demonstrate exceptional listening abilities and clear, empathetic communication that fosters open dialogue and transparency within teams. The presence of a female leader itself leads a perceiver to believe receiving fairer treatment. Many such arguments and data can be put forward to establish the fact that women leaders lead to a better working atmosphere and in turn, leads to higher profitability and better talent retention rates. Unequivocally, women leaders are needed, in sports and other businesses.
In sports industry too, from on-field performances bagging record prize purses to off-field business ventures resulting in growth of the sport itself, the true value of women in sport is beginning to be realised.
This brings us to the question – what does it take to lead a women’s football department?
Increasing interests from professionals eager to contribute to the women’s football business, often have unanswered questions:
- What does it take to build a high-performing women’s football department?
- How to organize the professional structure?
- What are the factors to consider?
At SBI, we put a high priority on women’s football. That’s why we brought Bianca ‘Jay’ Rech, Director Women’s Football at FC Bayern München, in an exclusive webinar to talk about all the factors in ““Building a High-Performance Women’s Football Department”.
Bianca understands women’s football from inside out. For someone who has been a top professional football player winning multiple titles including three German leagues and the 2001-02 UEFA Women’s Cup (now called UEFA Women’s Champions League) and moving on to become the Sporting Director of Women’s Football at FC Bayern München, she knows what it takes to create a winning department.
It’s a must-attend webinar for all those who want to become the next leader in the business game.
Note the details:
- Date: Thursday, August 27, 2026
- Time: 7:00p.m. (CET) / 6:00p.m. (UK)
Register here to register for the webinar and get an inside account of the creating a women’s football department.
In Conclusion
The efforts put together by football’s governance bodies have begun to take shape. In a recent step, the FIFA Council has ruled that every team in a FIFA women’s football tournament must include at least one female head coach or assistant coach, and two staff members on the bench of every team must be female.
Steps like this make a lot of difference. However, it much be embraced from the very top of the organizational chart.
