In-game attendance will be integral to continuing the momentum and establishing life-long fans of women\u2019s sport in the UK, according to research from the Women\u2019s Sport Trust (WST) and Two Circles agency.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The study, which was developed through additional funding from UK Sport, the Football Association (FA), the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and the Rugby Football Union (RFU), shows habits in women\u2019s sports are currently less fixed than in men\u2019s sports.<\/p>\n

However, the research found that any experience with women\u2019s sport was more likely to lead to positive changes in future behaviour, with fans wanting to watch more women\u2019s sport, when compared to experiences with men\u2019s sports.<\/p>\n

The findings also showed that the more varied experiences a women\u2019s sports fan had, be that watching on television or attending an event, the more likely they were to consume in the future.<\/p>\n

In-game attendance, and the excitement of those events, particularly when played in a \u2018captivating atmosphere\u2019, were cited as two significant metrics in driving habitual change in fans.<\/p>\n

While more than 75 per cent of people agreed that women\u2019s sport is inspiring, the most significant correlation with consuming women\u2019s sport is, unsurprisingly, when it is exciting.<\/p>\n

Indeed, the study shows that sport played by women that is described as \u2018exciting\u2019 to watch was almost twice as likely to result in meaningful action, when compared with sport played by women that is \u2018inspiring\u2019 to others.<\/p>\n

According to the research, the depth of engagement in the viewership of women\u2019s sport also demonstrates the clear potential for long-term, sustainable growth. Two Circles and the WST drew attention to the record UK viewership for women\u2019s sport in 2022, stating that the raw numbers and depth of engagement within fans were increasing.<\/p>\n

\u201cWomen\u2019s sport is becoming mainstream and the amount and depth of consumption is increasing rapidly,\u201d said Tammy Parlour, chief executive of the Women\u2019s Sport Trust.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe identified that the next frontier to tackle is habitual consumption of sport, which was the focus of this research, as this will open up a range of revenue streams that will help women\u2019s sport ultimately become sustainable and profitable.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis study shows there is a huge opportunity for right holders, media and sponsors to harness this interest in women\u2019s sport. The next step for the industry is to find ways to drive fans to develop a more meaningful, long-term connection to women\u2019s sport, across many different sports, so the fantastic growth we\u2019ve seen to date does not stagnate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Clare Vigers, client services director at Two Circles, added: \u201cNothing beats a live event. They\u2019re consistently the best, most effective drivers of engagement with sports at the top of the fandom funnel, but for women\u2019s sport to grow sustainably in the long term, we need to turn these moments of breakthrough into habits, which will result in bigger, more consistently engaged audiences.<\/p>\n

\u201cBased on our findings, it is clear that this live engagement with supporters is key to creating positive habitual behaviours. Attendance is the bedrock of habit.\u201d<\/p>\n

The latest research from the WST and Two Circles into women\u2019s sport fandom follows a separate study revealing that domestic women\u2019s sport was watched by 37.6 million viewers in the UK in 2022, beating the previous record of 32.9 million in 2021.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, attendances for women\u2019s sports events last year exceeded two million for the first time, driven by England\u2019s triumph at Uefa Women\u2019s Euro 2022.<\/p>\n

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[ad_1] Turning experience into habits will establish genuine life-long fans, says report Study says any experience with women\u2019s sport more likely to lead to positive changes in future behaviour Attendances for women\u2019s sports events last year exceeded 2m for first time In-game attendance will be integral to continuing the momentum and establishing life-long fans of<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6667,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[1317,1318,193,160,165,151],"ppma_author":[1162],"class_list":{"0":"post-6666","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-example-3","8":"tag-attendances","9":"tag-key","10":"tag-momentum","11":"tag-sport","12":"tag-study","13":"tag-womens"},"yoast_head":"\n