How Are Brands Tapping into the Women’s Football Market at EURO 2025 and Beyond?

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By Maxwell Kablan

Women’s football has been on a rapid rise in recent years. As viewership increases year on year, so too will the commercial interest from brands who look to establish themselves in the growing market.

The UEFA Women’s Euro 2025 in Switzerland is well underway, and is one of the most anticipated tournaments in recent history for women’s football. The tournament is expected to reach 500 million viewers, and to overtake the previous record of 374 million from the 2022 edition. Likewise, tournament revenue is also expected to reach €128 million, doubling the €63.3 million raised in 2022. A large chunk of this will be commercial revenue, with an expected €41 million to come from commercial brands. So why are brands investing more in women’s football and in what ways are they investing?

Which brands have invested commercially in the tournament?

It should be no surprise that brands have gone big in sponsoring this year’s tournament. This year’s edition of the Women’s Euros has 21 sponsors, in what is the largest number of sponsors for any UEFA competition, men’s or women’s. Many of these are designated women’s football sponsors with global brands such as Amazon, PlayStation, Just Eat and Lidl  sponsoring the tournament.

What makes the partnerships unique is that sponsors are going beyond using the tournament to bring awareness to their own brands. Many look to use the tournament to build deeper connections with women’s football fans, as well as engaging with community projects. As women’s football is still a growing market, brand loyalty is up for grabs, and brands will be committed to making a long-lasting impression on fans.

For instance, Lidl will be running a ‘Never Stop Growing’ campaign, which will focus on  bringing together 100 teenage girls from 20 countries for a weekend football and wellness programme. Girls will benefit from coaching from UEFA licensed coaches, as well as workshops on nutrition and wellbeing. The supermarket company will be providing menstrual hygiene products at stadiums during the games, for fans players and referees.

Brands are looking to optimise their platform to promote female empowerment within football. Tournament Partner AXA has looked at increasing visibility in the women’s game with its marketing campaign ‘Keep on Kicking’, dedicated around supporting women and girls to keep playing football through stages of adolescence, motherhood and menopause. The health insurance company even has its own Women’s Walking Football campaign, which is a low impact way to play the game for women of all ages.

There is also a focus for sponsors around ensuring optimal viewer experience and brands meeting sustainability targets. Just Eat has agreed to roll out ‘Quick Collect’ ordering for fans during matches, where fans can order food and drinks in quick time, without missing previous match-viewing experience. They are also committed to ensuring sustainability with their products, by using carbon labelling on food menus and biodegradable packages.

These partnerships demonstrate brands are willing to meet social and environmental targets within women’s football, and they transcend beyond the surface.

How are brands partnering with national teams?

Many brands have taken to unique marketing and sponsorship campaigns, some of which are team-based while others are focused on particular players.

Before the tournament, Google Pixel collaborated with the England women’s national team as their official mobile phone and earbud provider, in what is the company first dive into football in the UK. The partnership involves a Pitchside Presented by Pixel Series, where fans are able to experience pitchside insight into the England team during their matches as well as behind the scenes content. The company also collaborated with the Germany women’s national team ahead of Euro 2025, with the aim of improving overall visibility of women’s football in Germany.

Brands are aware of the power of differentiation when it comes to the women’s game -  if they are able to see potential gaps in the market and account for these, this is a way of standing out, and team partnerships are a viable way of doing this.

One of the key pioneers to collaborate with a women’s national team was Cadbury in 2021. They had a deal with the Republic of Ireland’s women’s team, where they became the team’s official snack sponsor. In a unique campaign ‘Become a supporter and Behalf’ the chocolate company helped with giving grassroots clubs the opportunity to meet and train with the national team, while also bringing communities together to encourage women into playing football. As a result of the campaign, brand awareness rose enormously, with 74% of viewers recognising the partnership in Ireland’s games, while Cadbury’s revenue also increased by 23%.  

The benefits of collaborating with women’s national teams are clear to see, and it’s important that brands tap into a market which is only going to grow.

How are brands partnering with players?

Brands have also tapped into using players to promote women’s football ahead of the tournament. In the women’s game, athlete brand partnerships hold great power and a survey from Women’s Sport Trust found that 30% of brand consumers feel more positive about a brand partnering with female athletes, compared to 23% for male athletes.

In other words, women’s football fans value trust, and when they see players representing brands and products, they’re more likely to trust the brand, and purchase their products as a result.

Pepsi have been trailblazers when it comes to partnerships with women’s footballers. Ahead of Euro 2025, they chose a roster with names including Ballon d’or winner Alexia Putellas as well as England players Lauren James and Leah Williamson. As brand ambassadors, they were part of the company’s Refresh The Game marketing campaign, which celebrated their role as leading pioneers in the women’s game, while also showcasing their personalities and flair. Each ambassador also has their own mural in their respective home towns and cities in a commitment to bringing more eyes on women’s football.

England’s Lionesses in particular have been a hotbed for unique athlete-brand campaigns. Striker Alessia Russo is a brand ambassador for Google Pixel, where she stared in the promotional soundtrack campaign ahead of the tournament, alongside players such as Chloe Kelly, Jess Carter and Ella Toone. Google Pixel also collaborated with British Vogue to launch ‘The Sports Desk’ where players like Russo will be able to discuss topics and trends in women’s football to a wide audience.

Lucy Bronze has a unique partnership with ALIGNE, a female-led sustainability focused brand, where she has been part of the SS24 partnership to empower and champion women, while also blending the worlds of football and fashion together.

When it comes to brands partnering with players, authenticity is everything, and brands are beginning to take note.

What are the legal implications of these brand collaborations?

As sponsorships become more apparent and valuable in women’s football, teams and players will want to ensure they are protected legally.

For teams, they will need to clearly establish the scope of brands’ rights, such as if a brand is the sole sponsor in a brand category or if the rights are shared between multiple brands. Having this clearly established will help with preventing any disputes about the nature of the agreements.

Additionally, there also needs to be clear clauses in relation to how brands will use a team’s IP. Team’s will need to outline the scope of logos, trademarks and images, while also covering indemnity for if their IP is used by a brand in a way which is unauthorised.

For players, their lawyers and agents will need to ensure the contracts do not heavily restrict their players’ ability to engage with other partnerships. Many brands have exclusivity clauses where athletes are prohibited from engaging with competing brands or products. However, as more brands expand their products, there is greater potential for overlap, where other brands could be deemed as competitors. Therefore, it is crucial that the players’ lawyers and agents draft clauses that clearly outline the scope of the players rights , and in a way where players can maximise their commercial opportunities elsewhere.

Players should also be aware of morality clauses. Here, sponsors have the right to terminate the contract of a player if they behave in a way which negatively impacts the brand. Therefore, players will need to ensure they are conducting themselves well both when engaging with the sponsors and elsewhere in their everyday lives.

What can we expect in the future?

The rise in brand partnerships at Euro 2025 demonstrates a positive trajectory in women’s football. If the tournament is a commercial success, it could motivate partners to invest more in club football in the women’s game.

It could also move towards an ‘unbundling trend’, where rightsholders work exclusively with women’s clubs, leagues and players. Typically, sponsorships are bundled where sponsor packages cover both men’s and women’s team. But unbundling could allow for a greater focus on maximising commercial opportunities in women’s football.

This has already been utilised in the Women’s Super League in the UK, where Barclays signed a record-breaking 3-year exclusive deal with the league which is worth £45m and £15m per year.

Women’s football is in an exciting place right now, so expect commercial interest to only get stronger.