29 December 2025
2025: The Year of Women's Sport
2025 is a year to remember for women's sport in the UK. The Red Roses won the Women's Rugby World Cup1; the Lionesses became back-to-back European Champions2; Arsenal won the UEFA Women's Champions League3; Beau Greaves beat Luke Littler in the World Youth Championship and competed at the World Darts Championships4; female athletes dominated the medal statistics for Team GB at the 2025 World Athletics Championships5; Poppy Maskill claimed gold in the women's S14 100m butterfly at the World Para Swimming Championships 2025, whilst breaking her own world record6; Miriam Payne and Jess Rowe became the first women's team ever to row non-stop across the Pacific Ocean from Peru to Australia7; and the list goes on. However, this is not only a time to celebrate, but for key stakeholders to work to increase the value of the sector which is far from reaching its potential.
The global revenue for women's sport is projected to surpass GBP1.88bn in 2025 (having exceeded GBP1bn in 2024)8, and women's football is predicted to be in the global top five sports by 20309. Momentum has built throughout 2025 and there is now a golden opportunity for key stakeholders including investors, brands, media and teams/leagues, to contribute to the growth of the women's sport revenue base. As highlighted in this article, some entities are doing exactly that, and others must be careful they don't have to play catch up.
Commercial revenue and sponsorship
As commercial revenue is set to continue to have the greatest contribution to women's sports revenue, projected at 54% of income across women's sports globally in 202510, there is increasing opportunity for new partnerships to spread audience outreach and build brand recognition. Barbie partnered with England Rugby's women's team, the Red Roses, before the Women's Rugby World Cup 202511, and launched four women's rugby player dolls, Ellie Kildunne, Ilona Maher, Portia Woodman-Wickliffe and Nassira Konde, on 6 October 2025 (International Day of the Girl)12. Research shows that 'a third of girls disengage in sport by the age of 14, driven by concerns over body confidence, doubts in their ability and a lack of visible female role models in sport'13; the partnership and new dolls creates role models to help tackle this issue and champion important causes, expands the Red Roses platform, and enables Barbie to reach new values-driven audiences, as well as increase its presence in elite sport 14.
Broadcasting and viewership
Women's sport offers a unique opportunity in terms of viewership patterns. Another reason for the success of the Women's Rugby World Cup and other events is the use of social media engagement. TikTok and Instagram are proving to be incredibly effective platforms to raise the profile of individual female athletes and teams. Comparing the Red Roses and England men's rugby team TikTok accounts, the 6.7 million views of the Red Roses' account was over 75% higher15, and from January to July 2025 the UEFA Women's Football account had 422 million views on TikTok, more than any other women's sports leagues or competition accounts16.
Taking note, the BBC have ensured that as part of the deal where they have secured the rights to air the UEFA Women's Champions League until 2030, all highlights will be available on the BBC app and social media platforms (including TikTok and Instagram)17.
Investment
The back-to-back success of the Lionesses at the UEFA Women's EURO creates an opportune moment for the Women's Super League (WSL) to continue to grow, with 14 teams to be included in the 2026/27 season18. In the 23/24 season, the aggregate revenue for WSL clubs increased by 34% from the previous season19, and Barclays have signed a new sponsorship deal from 2025-2028 worth GBP45 million, the largest in domestic women's football history and doubling their investment20. The WSL are assessing various ways of attracting capital to advance the competition's growth and lead investment in women's football21. With more investment, the WSL can develop the league's infrastructure which is essential to increase fanbases and ticket revenue.
The Rugby Football Union (RFU) launched the 'Every Rose: Our Time' action plan on 6 October 2025 with the aim to increase participation to 100,000 active players by 2030 and fund over GBP60m in revenue in women's rugby22. Since 2021 annual funding has tripled, and the RFU is keen to build on the momentum of the Red Roses' World Cup win to continue and accelerate this trajectory23, ultimately building a self-sustaining and economically powerful sport.
A long-term and significant partnership between the Women’s Tennis Association and Mercedes-Benz was announced in December 2025. Mercedes-Benz is planning to make significant investments into women's tennis for up to 10 years which will help the WTA to award 'equal prize money at events where women and men feature by 2027 and non-combined events by 2033'24. The WTA have said the partnership will ‘further elevate women’s tennis for even greater visibility, impact and empowerment’25 following rapid acceleration for the WTA in 2025 which has seen the fanbase expand, a new brand identity launched, the highest prize money awarded in the WTA’s history, and successful community initiatives focusing on women's health26. As the Premier Partner and Exclusive Automobile partner of the WTA, Mercedes-Benz has capitalised on an opportunity to increase its global presence in women's elite sport, helping the WTA to achieve goals paramount to the growth of women’s tennis.
Looking ahead
Analysis finds that the women's sport revenue base grew 4.5 times faster than men's sport from 2022-202427, yet the sector is far from reaching its full potential.
Women's sport is experiencing exponential growth, but more can be done to increase the value of the sector. Investors can issue more capital to women's sports, brands can launch focused campaigns to improve fan engagement and audience outreach, broadcasters can show more women's sports to increase visibility, and teams/leagues can offer premium experiences including match day hospitality28.
With the likes of the ICC Women's T20 World Cup, Women's Rugby League World Cup and Commonwealth Games 2026 around the corner, there is no reason 2026 cannot be another great year for women's sport. Rather than lagging behind, it is important for existing and new stakeholders to quickly engage in the continued expansion of women's sport and take full advantage of the revenue opportunities it will inevitably provide.