Late kick-offs haven’t helped, at least not for kids – matches ending at 10pm on school nights won’t be an option for many young kids – while others have criticized the lack of promotion ahead of the tournament, with the most prominent billboard campaign belonging to Pepsi decorated with an image of the English Captain Leah Willamson. For those who already know her, that’s nice to see, but for those who don’t know her, the link to the tournament will probably not be made.
There is much to love and applaud. England are playing to nearly capacity, with 68,871 at Old Trafford for the 1-0 win over Austria and 28,847 at Brighton to witness the the beautiful destruction of the team from a very fanatical Norwegian side. It was again sold out at Southampton’s St Mary’s Stadium for their final group game against Northern Ireland on Friday night. There are also no more free places for the quarterfinals against Spain or Denmark next Wednesday.
The total number of match fans, with one round of group matches to go, has already pulverized the total cumulative turnout for the previous €240,055 held in the Netherlands in 2017.
The Lionesses’ exploits have made headlines on television, radio and the back pages of national and local newspapers, but the television audience is not vastly different from what we saw for the World Cup in France in 2019.
Viewers for England’s two matches were around 3.7 million against Austria and just over 4.1 million – a record Euros – against Norway. Good numbers, but nothing compared to the 11.7 million people who saw the team lose to US Lyon three years ago, or even the 7.6 million who saw the Lionesses beat Norway 3-0 in the quarter-finals in 2019.
Speaking as ambassador for Booking.com, official travel partner of UEFA Women’s Euros 2022, Carney admitted that the tournament won’t really explode until England are on their way to the final.
“I think as the tournament progresses, and as a home team, as long as England stays in it, I think there will be even more appetite as it goes on,” she added. “This moment, now, is when it progresses. That is of course, after the first week we have an audience and then a new audience gradually joins.”
At the Olympics, gold medals translate into increased participation and interest. When people see someone win a gold medal on the BMX track, they are inspired to get involved – or at least their kids.
That’s why England’s progress in the tournament is critical to what happens next. A quarterfinal would be a disaster. The semi-final would be a draw, and possibly a disappointing one. To really make their mark on the country’s psyche, the Lionesses should not only be in the final at Wembley on July 31, they should become European champions in front of a sold-out crowd in the home of English football in front of the biggest television audience this country has provided for a women’s match.
Then even the most skeptical audience will be won over.