Deloitte Football Money League – Women’s

The cumulative revenue generated by the 15 top revenue generating women’s clubs¹ included in our report (“top 15”) reached €158m during the 2024/25 season. This represents an increase of 35% compared with last year’s top 15, mirroring exactly the previous season’s growth rate. As with last year’s edition of the Money League, the 2026 edition considers group income within women’s clubs’ revenue. Group income includes, among other components, revenue attributable to the women’s club from full club-wide commercial agreements, and revenue contributions from the broader club.

The composition of this year’s top 15 remains largely consistent with the 2025 edition. Women’s Super League (‘WSL’) clubs continue to dominate the rankings, with the same eight representatives as last year.

A trend observed is that the top three clubs have separated themselves from the pack. Arsenal Women (1^st - €25.6m), Chelsea Women (2^nd - €25.4m) and FC Barcelona Femení (3^rd - €22m) again made up the top three, albeit in a different ranking order. The three clubs, which all won major trophies during the 2024/25 season, generated average revenue of €24.3m – c.250% higher than the average revenue generated by the rest of the top 15 (€7m).

Despite similarities at a top-line revenue perspective, the three clubs are proof that there is currently no single blueprint for success for women’s football clubs, with the industry still relatively nascent. For instance, Arsenal Women and Chelsea Women have so far followed different business models, but both have resulted in commercial success. Arsenal Women has long-adopted the idea of a ‘one-club’ mentality, benefitting from economies of scale and consistent messaging with the broader club. Alternatively, Chelsea Women opted to operate as an entity independent to its men’s equivalent in 2024/25, driving more defined value attribution mechanisms across both teams to drive the growth of the women’s team. The success achieved by each of these clubs refreshingly demonstrates that driving revenue growth is well within a club’s own gift.

Across the three key revenue streams, commercial revenue remains the current growth engine for women’s football clubs, comprising 72% (2025: 66%²) of top 15 clubs’ total revenue. This highlights, both, the commercial appeal women’s football clubs have with high-profile brands and that other revenue streams, such as broadcast revenue, are yet to really fulfil their potential.

Matchday revenue continues to grow, with the average generated by top 15 clubs increasing from €1.3m in 2023/24 to €1.5m in 2024/25. However, in contrast to this revenue growth, attendances have in some cases decreased with five WSL clubs reporting a season-on-season drop after the record-breaking 2023/24 season. Women’s football clubs face a challenge not typically shared by men’s clubs in that they need to attract and retain new fans. In recent years, clubs have looked to innovate and transform the matchday experience to create more compelling offerings for their existing, and future, fanbase.

The comparatively lower levels of tribalism in the women’s game means clubs are required to think differently and introduce initiatives that reward loyalty and repeat attendance. However, there can be no doubt that the ‘offering’ of the women’s game is a totally different product to the men’s game and many other sports. There is a risk that if the matchday offering isn’t thought of and developed in a different way, then attendances may continue to plateau as clubs fail to offer the fans of the women’s game what they want or need. Arsenal Women, which leads the way for matchday revenue generation across the top 15 (€7m), has, for example, introduced tiered-pricing which encourages fans to consistently attend matches.

While men’s football club revenues have been heavily reliant on broadcast revenue to drive growth over the past two decades, this revenue stream remains the least significant amongst the top 15 women’s clubs. As a proportion of total revenue, broadcast decreased from 18% (average: €1.4m) to 13% (average: €1.3m) amongst these clubs. This is in part driven by the timing of leagues’ domestic rights cycles, many of which have several seasons until expiry. However, UEFA’s recent landmark deal with Disney+, reportedly valued at €12m per year, will see the streaming giant broadcast all 75 UEFA Women’s Champions League (‘UWCL’) fixtures across Europe from 2025/26. Whilst this deal demonstrates an investment into the women’s game, showing that broadcasters are recognising the opportunity on offer, the value is perhaps underwhelming for what is marketed as the pinnacle of the European game and may hint at a broader challenge.

Furthermore, with FIFA confirming the inaugural Women’s Club World Cup in 2028, strategic planning is essential to ensure the volume of matches and the planned competition formats reflect i) the wants and needs of the fans; ii) the value attainable in the women’s football market and mitigating the risk of dilution, and critically, iii) the current scale and depth of talent pathways with professional structures are still being introduced. As always, to achieve this careful balance, collaboration and alignment among governing bodies is required to define collective future success, considering relevant factors including those that are not always prevalent in the day-to-day running of the sport. Crucially, it may also be the time to challenge the logic that simply replicating the men’s structure and approach will deliver the best results for the women’s game.

In positive news, viewership across women’s sport more broadly, particularly in Europe, reached record highs in 2025, with flagship tournaments like the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup and the 2025 UEFA Women’s EUROs (‘Women’s EUROs’) driving this. In contrast, there has been a decrease in viewership of domestic football competitions in the last year, with the WSL reportedly experiencing a 35% reduction in live TV audiences in line with broader downward trends in live TV viewing.

Whilst traditional linear TV remains an important vehicle for engagement, it is important to recognise that fans of women’s sport have seen greater engagement through alternative means. According to reports, the 12 WSL clubs in 2024/25 generated almost 30% more engagements on Instagram compared to the EFL Championship’s 24 men’s clubs. The scarcity associated with continental competitions like the Women’s EUROs captures the attention of a larger pool of sports fans, and the stakeholders in control of women’s domestic football leagues must strive towards capturing this audience and retaining their attention consistently throughout the season.

The revenue uplift amongst women’s football clubs in recent years is a positive indicator for the growth trajectory of the game, however it remains critical to consider the growth of women’s football from a broader perspective, and not purely financial. As clubs continue to navigate this period of growth, stakeholders will need to continue considering the balance between revenue-generation in the short-term and longer-term strategic initiatives that will set themselves up for longer term sustainability.

The women’s game is continuing to grow organically, and there is no tried-and-tested model for the clubs to follow. Stakeholders must challenge themselves to innovate without being afraid to fail but must also learn from their mistakes whilst remaining patient in dealing with temporary setbacks.

Women’s club analysis

For the first time since the Money League has included women’s football, there is a new top revenue-generating club amongst the top 15 analysed. After narrowly missing out last year, Arsenal Women tops this year’s ranking reporting €25.6m in revenue, an increase of 43%. The London club continues to invest heavily in data to better understand its different audiences, resulting in attendances exceeding 35,000 on five separate occasions last season, demonstrating genuine value to key commercial partners.

Chelsea Women, which underwent a landmark transaction in 2025 reportedly valuing the club at £200 million, is second in this year’s rankings. The investment by tech entrepreneur Alexis Ohanian was facilitated by a prior ‘carve-out’ of the women’s team from the club’s broader corporate structure. Doing so aimed to increase independence, allowing for dedicated resources and leadership solely focussed on delivering results. The club generated the highest commercial revenue amongst the top 15 (€19.1m), which was driven by both attributions from club-wide sponsorship deals, as well as exclusive partnerships with major brands like Three and Skoda.

FC Barcelona Femení (€22m) completes the top three after another successful season on the pitch. Cumulatively, the revenue generated by this year’s top three clubs represents 46% of that of the top 15, further emphasising their relative commercial dominance.

Elsewhere in the top 15, Manchester City Women (€12.9m), Manchester United Women (€12.8m) and Real Madrid Femenino (€12.3m) form a cluster from fourth to sixth. Each of these three clubs reported strong revenue growth compared to 2023/24, with Manchester City Women’s revenue increasing by an impressive 63% after returning to the UWCL knockout stages for the first time since 2020/21.

FC Bayern Frauen (8^th: €7.2m) was one of four top 15 clubs to compete in the inaugural World Sevens Football (‘W7F’) tournament which offered $5m (€4.6m) in prize money. The club, which beat Manchester United Women in the finals, reportedly received $2.5m (€2.3m) in prize money. Founders have stated the competition’s intention was to provide women’s players with a new platform to showcase their talent and included contractual obligations for clubs to share a portion of winnings with staff and players. The competition represents just one strategic initiative that stakeholders within the women’s game have considered to differentiate its product and attract new audiences, and the industry must ask itself whether further innovation, which may not land in the ‘traditional’ men’s game, may be the way forward.

After narrowly missing out on the top 15 last year, Japanese side Sanfrecce Hiroshima Regina (€3m) was the only non-European club to feature this year. Compared to men’s football, which is traditionally commercially dominated by European clubs, the relative nascency of women’s football allows clubs across the globe a greater opportunity to compete with their European counterparts in terms of revenue generation.

The 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup, to be hosted in Brazil, is the first time the competition will be hosted in South America, potentially boosting the growth of domestic women’s football across the continent and possibly supporting a more diverse ecosystem of clubs for future editions of this report.

Future outlook

The future of women’s football remains undefined, and that is an exciting prospect. Whilst it has grown significantly in recent years, women’s football remains in its critical ‘start-up’ phase. It is imperative that stakeholders understand that to transition into the ‘established’ phase of its growth cycle, consistent capital, time, and effort is required to develop the foundations for clubs, leagues, and players to fulfil the enormous potential that presents itself. Innovation and new ideas are key, and we encourage those running the game and the clubs to challenge the status quo, think about the future and what might be coming next and, critically, to focus on the key value drivers that will deliver material impact.

Importantly, investment must be targeted. Funds should be used to reshape infrastructure and prioritise other initiatives like science-led athlete research. Both should help clubs maintain a healthy pipeline of future stars, which will be critical to maintain on and off-field competitiveness as competitions like the WSL and the UWCL expand. However, as competitions expand, player welfare considerations need to remain at the forefront of stakeholders’ considerations to support the development of the sport.

Leagues across women’s football are starting to take control of their own destiny. The WSL, now operating as an independent entity, is exploring options to support strategic growth initiatives. Similarly, clubs from the Frauen-Bundesliga have announced their decision to split from the German Football Federation (DfB) and form an independent body to operate the country’s top two divisions. The creation of independently operated entities in domestic women’s football intends to facilitate sensible, targeted investment required for the next phase of growth.

The move to independence is not confined to leagues. Further to Chelsea Women, Aston Villa Women (rank 7^th) explored a similar carve-out which subsequently facilitated a minority investment from Marc Zahr, co-president of investment firm Blue Owl Capital Inc. As investment into European women’s clubs becomes more prominent, sport-specific funds such as the Monarch Collective, which has recently made its first move in European football having invested in German side FC Viktoria Berlin, are exploring the European women’s football landscape for future investment. These investors bring a more commercially focussed mindset, driven by prospective returns from a relatively lower entry point. However, it is clear that investors are also mission-driven, and intent on sharing their experiences to support the acceleration and development of the sport.

¹ for example excludes National Women’s Soccer League clubs, OL Lyonnes, and VfL Wolfsburg Women, as information was not available to us for the purpose of this publication.