This season’s January transfer window may have been defined by a risk-averse Premier League, but women’s football enjoyed another record-breaking transfer window
Women’s football is growing and showing no signs of slowing down.
That’s the default synopsis when it comes to any discussion surrounding the women’s game, but the numbers being touted are getting impressive. Deloitte recently estimated that the women’s game will generate £1 billion in global revenue in the coming years, while WSL chairman Dawn Airey believes the competition could be the first to reach that figure within the next decade.
For those who may doubt that the exponential rate of growth can sustain itself, a look at the transfer market over the last few years is as solid a place to start.
In a January transfer window defined by the overall distaste for men’s football, the women’s transfer window marked another record-breaking episode. Transfer fees in the period reached a record $2.1m (£1.65m), 165.5% higher than in January 2023, according to new FIFA report snapshot.
While the total number of women’s international transfers remained relatively stable at 357 international transfers (up 0.3% compared to last January), it is the sliding scale of player prices that is most telling of the growth of women’s football .
Indeed, the January transfer window saw another English transfer record broken with Chelsea’s signing of highly-rated Colombian striker Maira Ramirez. The fee, understood to be around €450,000 (£380,000), marked a new record sum in British women’s football and could be a new world record fee with the corresponding add-ons.
Meanwhile, Manchester City parted with £200,000 to sign Laura Blindkilde Brown from Aston Villa after their previous record signing from the summer, Jill Roord, suffered an ACL injury, while NWSL side Portland Thorns splashed out £250,000 for Canadian Olympic gold medalist. Jessie Fleming from Chelsea.
The numbers are in line with spending trends in the women’s game in recent years. 2023 was marked by a record $6.1 million spent on transportation, an 84.2% increase from the previous year. The number of transfers also increased, up 20% from 2022, while the number of clubs involved in international transfers also increased from 507 in 2022 to 623 in 2023, an increase of 22.9%.
Distilling exactly where the money comes from in the women’s game boils down to a myriad of factors. The general inflation of the transfer market is one of them, but with major investors and broadcasters queuing up to get involved in the women’s game and attendances and exposure increasing every week, clubs are also more willing to invest not just to players for their playing ability. but also for their commercial value.
Manchester United and England star Mary Earps has shown her unparalleled appeal over the past year as her Manchester United shirt was one of the club’s top sellers, men’s or women’s, while her battle with Nike over sales of her national team’s goalkeeper jersey became an international storm.
That spending last January represented more than a third of spending from last year overall, offering a glimpse into the year ahead, with a number of high-profile players attempting to make moves across the globe in the summer.
So what does it mean for women’s football? Promise, though caution is needed. The increase in spending has raised concerns among many in the game about the widening gap between the top clubs and those with greater financial backing than those struggling financially.
Former Brighton boss Hope Powell has stressed the importance of maintaining a link between the upper echelons of the game and the bottom of the pyramid, a sentiment that has increased in frequency with NewCo’s planned takeover of English football’s top two clubs. The ever-widening economic gap that threatens to expose men’s soccer is a cautionary tale that women’s soccer would be wise to heed.
Long-term sustainability and growth must be the priority moving into the next era of women’s football. Reading’s latest relegation offers a cautionary tale in just that. However, the sight of a £1m player in the women’s game does not seem far off, a sign that the game is booming.
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