Women’s Football: don’t judge me, support me! Evidence from young generations

Giachino, Chiara, Valenti, Maurizio ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8029-9863, Bonadonna, Alessandro and Bollani, Luigi (2024) Women’s Football: don’t judge me, support me! Evidence from young generations. Soccer and Society, 25 (1). pp. 45-61. ISSN 1466-0970

Accepted Version File will be available on: 30 November 2024. Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial. Download (403kB)

Abstract

The aim of the paper is to understand how young generations consider women playing football since women’s football still struggles to reach and gain consistent fan followings. Women’s football stakeholders are in need to inspire viewers and spectators in order to improve the visibility and commercialisation of the game. A survey was administered and distributed to 2,298 participants belonging to both Millennials and Generation Z cohorts. Predictors of interest in women’s football were tested based on such information and a cluster analysis was conducted to group participants based on common characteristics and views on women’s football. Results show that there is a connection among past or current sport playing experience, general interest in sports and positive attitude toward women in football. Generation Z and Young Millennials are more favourable toward women in football and find it normal. However, there are still some people who disapprove this sport.