Arsenal women have the most extensive fan base in the WSL and draw the biggest crowds, but what is the secret to their success?
Until last season, they had not had very successful campaigns, only winning the League Cup. Still, they drew in the fans and audience because they capitalised on the Euros and their Lionesses.
All their WSL games will be held at the 60,704-capacity Emirates Stadium, which they are just building.
Their average attendance last season was nearly 29,000, three times the attendance of Chelsea's second-highest average, which dominated more on the pitch.
Arsenal took on the legacy of the Euros 2022 and were lucky that the England captain plays for their team, so they hatched on to change society.
Leah Williamson, England captain and Arsenal player, said in 2022: "The legacy of this tournament is a change in society. We have brought people together and brought people to games. We want people at WSL games."
And Arsenal fans listened.
Two months after the final, they hosted their north London rivals Spurs at the Emirates, setting a WSL record of 47,367 fans in attendance.
They did the work off the pitch with the appointment in December of 2021 of Juliet Slot as their new chief commercial officer to oversee marketing, among other responsibilities.
She highlights three main factors as contributing to the club's success:
- Having 38 years of building a women's team and already having a core group of loyal supporters
- Capitalising on the success of the Euros, with key Lionesses such as Williamson part of the Arsenal team
- Identifying the different audiences interested in coming to watch women's football and really focusing their digital, radio and outdoor marketing on those key areas
Arsenal attracted new fans, those who were likely mesmerised by the lionesses in the Euros an wanted to watch more.
- New fans: In 2022-23, 61% of purchasers had never attended the Emirates Stadium before
- Younger fans: In 2023-24, 49% of purchasers were under 35 – up from 46% in 22-23
- More female fans: Arsenal had a higher proportion of female purchasers than males for the first season since hosting regular games at the Emirates in 2023-24 – increasing to 57% from 48% in 2022-23 & 47% in 2021-22. By comparison, a men's game would be around 15% female purchasers
- Supporters of both the men's and women's teams: Around 25% of the audience attending women's matches at the Emirates purchase tickets for men's games
- Children: The % of under 18s at games in 2024-25 is around 5%, up from 2% in 2022-23, and 3% in 2023-24 (although Arsenal have limited data)
- More girls: Around three-quarters of under 18s attending are female
Having gone from averaging nearly 3,500 in Women's Super League the season before England hosted Euro 2022, Arsenal grew that more than eight times to almost 30,000 in the space of two years.
That 2023-24 league season included two complete sell-outs as some 60,000 fans packed out the Emirates, which hosted six WSL matches and saw three league attendance records set in the process.
Arsenal boasted prominent England players from the victorious Lionesses, such as Beth Mead and Leah Williamson.The club highlighted these national team stars on its digital channels, helping casual viewers connect the players to their Arsenal team.
The club used social media a major platform for younger generations to learn more, they drew in an audience with media pieces with lionesses making the fans feel like they will know them better like they are friends and they ar the 12th member on the pitch.
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