Guillaume Sabran, Head of Sponsorship and Licensing – UEFA
UEFA Women’s EURO 2025™ was arguably the event of the European sporting summer – another milestone in the growth of women’s football, but also a moment where the game began to refine its own commercial strategy and identity.
For UEFA, as Head of Sponsorship and Licensing Guillaume Sabran explained, the tournament was an important follow-up to the huge success of the 2022 edition in England.
That had harnessed the energy of one of the world’s leading women’s football markets. New host Switzerland was building from a lower base and it leant into that in its event concept. It aimed to grow the women’s game by delivering the best-attended, most watched and most compelling competition to date.
Fans were put at the heart of that execution with ticket-holders given free travel throughout the country. But the promotional work also engaged local communities and businesses through the ‘Summit of Emotions’ initiative, which took the tournament’s message to the top of the Alps, as well as wider digital campaigns.
The signal from UEFA was that it would take this event extremely seriously. The total prize pot swelled to €41 million while there was equalisation in presentation with the men’s game through the introduction of VAR technology.
Fans and audiences responded in kind. Overall attendances hit 657,000 – a tournament record – with TV viewership peaking with the 11.8 million who watched England’s eventual win from the UK. 25,000 people took part in the Fan Walk activity and there was a massive impact on social and earned media.
With 21 partners, this was also the best-supported Women’s Euro so far by brands. Sponsorship revenues increased by a remarkable 144%
Yet for Sabran, this is still a growth journey and an opportunity for brands to experiment and be agents for change. He cited Lidl’s support for grassroots women’s football and youth camps, alongside Heineken’s tailored live fan and music events, as examples of brands grasping those possibilities.
UEFA will invest €1 billion in the development of women’s football as part of its six-year ‘Unstoppable’ plan to 2030, with a revamped UEFA Women’s Champions League and other club formats debuting this year and attracting media partners like Disney+.
There are ambitious targets for participation, new coaches and officials, and broader professionalisation, but the ambition is for football in Europe to continue its acceleration. For brands, this could be the moment to be part of something truly transformational.