#91 Special episode Marketing The Game: The commercialisation of women’s football

At the beginning of the year, in March 2023, the team from Data Talks attended the Women in Football Be Inspired Conference in partnership with Barclays at Wembley Stadium. Lorraine Moalosi, our Head of Communications and PR joined a panel discussion entitled, "Marketing the game: commercializing women's football". She was joined by Lyndsey Clark, Marketing Specialist at UEFA, Misha Sher, the Global Head of Sport, Entertainment & Culture at Essencemediacom, Maggie Murphy, the CEO of Lewes FC, and Sara Hunter, Senior Commercial Manager, Women's Football at the FA. This incredible panel was hosted by Lisa Parfitt, Co-Founder of The Space Between Sports and a Director of Women in Football.

This was such a relevant discussion that the room was filled with keep audiences from wall to wall wanting to hear more about how to go about "marketing the game". Here's a brief summary of some highlights from the session, provided by Women in Football UK:

“Knowing your audience is key,” said Lorraine Moalosi, Head of PR & Communication at Data Talks. The appetite for women’s football has grown exponentially in recent years and Lorraine told the audience: “We need to dream higher and set higher goals – because we know we can achieve them.”

Often women’s football is let down by resources, and audience insight data is lacking in the women’s game, which makes it difficult for clubs to analyse audiences. Sara Hunter, Senior Commercial Manager, Women's Football at the FA, admired how companies like Amazon obsess over their customers and believes sport can learn a lot from this.

Maggie Murphy, CEO at Lewes FC, recalled how her club brought in their audiences: “We had a target audience of ‘unwelcome women’ – those who might like the game but have never attended a match because they might not feel welcome.” The values of the club and what you stand for are as important as the product on the pitch, she told us.