STOKE, England/MADRID (Reuters) - Just a few years ago, pre-season training for Stoke City’s women sometimes included painting the dugout and removing litter from the pitch at a former working men’s club in central England.
Now, in line with a global boom in women’s football, they are being paid, receive instructions from a full-time coach, enjoy the same multi-million pound training facilities as the men - and no longer moonlight as rubbish collectors.
That professionalization has underpinned the success of the ninth Women’s World Cup, which ended on Sunday with Spain beating England by a single goal in a final that pitted the two European countries with the strongest domestic leagues against each other.
Attracting record crowds and television audiences, the tournament buoyed hopes that the women’s game can start to bridge the yawning financial gap that exists with the men.
According to consultancy Deloitte, the women’s teams of the highest revenue-generating clubs in world football accounted for only 0-1% of total club revenues, in the 2021/22 season.
Spain’s captain Olga Carmona - the scorer of Sunday’s deciding goal - plays for Real Madrid, where the women’s team generated revenues of 1.4 million euros in the 2021/22 season, according to Deloitte.
That compared with the Real Madrid men’s teams revenues of 713.8 million euros in the same season.
In broadcast rights, the women’s game has struggled to compete. The FIFA president, Gianni Infantino, threatened Europe’s “Big 5” nations with a TV World Cup blackout unless their broadcasters upped their offers.
According to FIFA, broadcasters from Britain, Spain, France, Germany and Italy offered only $1 million to $10 million for the right to show World Cup games. That compared with the $100 million to $200 million paid for the men’s tournament.
The question now is whether the vast audiences that tuned in to the World Cup can lead to larger broadcast rights and sponsorship deals for national sides and the domestic clubs that are needed to sustain interest outside of major tournaments.
England’s success in Euro 2022, when 17.4 million people tuned in to watch the Lionesses beat Germany in extra time, has shown what can happen when a team’s success becomes part of the national conversation. The viewing figures did not include those watching in big fan parks and pubs.
Players like Jill Scott, Chloe Kelly and Ella Toone have built up huge social media followings and signed multiple brand sponsorships, keeping their names and the game in the spotlight.