Women’s EURO 2022 grab ‘record’ eyeballs

Article posted by Coliseum, July 21^st, 2022

Image: Brentford FC

The Women’s EURO 2022 group stage has concluded with records tumbling on and off the pitch: New high attendance figures, goals scored totals, numbers of web searches, and more.

‘UEFA.com’ stated that if figures on the pitch have been impressive, the numbers the other side of the touchline have been even more outstanding. Even before the tournament kicked off, a record 500,000 tickets had been sold (over double the previous best of 240,055 set at Women’s EURO 2017 in the Netherlands) and a colossal 68,871 turned out to watch England (UK) beat Austria 1-0 in the opening game, beating the previous best of 41,301 set in the 2013 final in Solna (Sweden). That record is likely to be broken again in the Wembley final.

The 2022 Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) European Women’s Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Women’s EURO 2022, is the 13^th edition of the UEFA Women’s Championship, the quadrennial international football championship organised by UEFA for the women’s national teams of Europe. It is the second edition since it was expanded to 16 teams. The tournament is being hosted by England and was originally scheduled to take place from July 7^th to August 1^st, 2021. However, following the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe and subsequent postponements of the 2020 Summer Olympics and UEFA Euro 2020 to summer 2021, the tournament was rescheduled for July 6^th to July 31^st, 2022.

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The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) is one of the six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer in Europe as well as Israel in Asia and the Eurasian transcontinental countries of Russia, Turkey, Cyprus, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, and Kazakhstan. The UEFA consists of 55 national association members. Because of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, FIFA and UEFA suspended all Russian national representative teams and club teams from any FIFA and UEFA competitions.

‘UEFA.com’ further stated that in total, 369,314 fans bought tickets for the group stage game, an average of over 15,300 across the 24 matches, with that 240,055 attendance record set at Women’s EURO 2017 broken in the 16^th game of the 31 at the 2022 finals. The record attendance for a group game not involving the hosts was broken three times: there were 16,819 at Spain’s game against Finland, then 21,342 at Netherlands vs. Sweden and finally 22,596 as the Dutch beat Switzerland 4-1 in Sheffield to confirm their place in the last eight.

That enthusiasm for the tournament is also reflected in the 90,000 attendance for Fan Parties ahead of matches at the finals, the 100,000 clap banners handed out at stadiums and the 10,000+ fans who have taken part in colorful Fan Walks to the stadiums ahead of the games.

Those figures are fantastic for the Host Cities, and tournament partners are also benefiting from global interest in the competition. With all the official stats and information on matches, highlights every night, as well as details of where to watch the games on TV, the official UEFA Women’s EURO 2022 website and mobile app have become No 1 destinations for fans and media alike, receiving over 5.25m visits (and almost 20m page views) so far: More than double the number at the same stage of the 2017 edition. Some 30 percent of that traffic has come from the United Kingdom, with local fans eager to snap up match tickets and follow teams’ performances in the ever-popular live MatchCenters.

Social media channels are also picking up the passion for Women’s EURO: Over four times as many followers have been gained on the official Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat channels since the tournament began compared to during the equivalent phase of the 2017 event. Video views and engagements are up 10 times on previous finals, with TikTok, the Official Entertainment Platform of the competition, driving the biggest growth and engagement by offering fans unseen angles, behind-the-scenes content and an immersive live schedule that lifts the lid on the biggest Women’s EURO.

Remarked UEFA chief of women’s football, Nadine Kessler, “This Women’s EURO is what we were all aiming and hoping for. It is record-breaking from start to finish and raises the bar to a new level never seen before in every aspect, whether it’s on a sporting or organizational level. A lot of work and dedication has gone into preparations for this tournament and to see it all come to fruition is fantastic. We have invested more than ever, and the players, teams, fans in the stadiums and at home as well as our partners can see and feel this. We are coming to the business end of things, we will see even more records broken. I am very excited about the knockout rounds, with some fantastic matches coming up, and we are all set to leave an amazing legacy behind when the trophy is handed over to winners at the 90,000-capacity Wembley Stadium on July 31^st.”

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