Featured image credit: Wembley Stadium
Women’s football is continuing to enjoy a boom in popularity, with Club Wembley – the hospitality arm of Wembley Stadium – reporting record hospitality bookings for the recent England v USA fixture.
A bumper crowd of 76,893 attended the match between reigning European champions the Lionesses and the USA, who are reigning world champions. This was despite ongoing national rail strikes in the UK that were expected to disrupt the overall attendance at the London stadium.
There were more than 120 private box bookings for the game, the most for any domestic football fixture at Wembley this season. Only the UEFA Women’s Euro 2022 final and World Title Heavyweight Fight between Tyson Fury and Dillian Whyte attracted more private box bookings.
As well as the private box bookings, more than 1,650 hospitality and Ticket Plus packages were sold across the stadium’s five dining areas.
Paul Scannell, head of Club Wembley and Hospitality at Wembley Stadium, said: “There has been a real cultural shift in attitudes to women’s football and the success of the UEFA Women’s Euro 2022 accelerated people’s curiosity in the game.
“Previously, interest in this type of fixture might have been from a dedicated group of supporters, but as soon as this game was announced we had huge levels of enquiries from fans across a broader range of sectors.
“There was a huge increase in the number of supporters who wanted to enhance their match-day experience by adding on hospitality options. It was on a par with what we might normally see for a major final or World Championship Boxing match.
“Women’s football now attracts a wider and diverse audience and there is a real opportunity for everyone working in the hospitality sector to meet their requirements.”
Sporting stars and celebrities also showed their support for the women’s national football teams, with the likes of Arsenal and England forward Bukayo Saka, Olympians Dame Kelly Holmes and Dina Asher Smith and actor Natalie Portman all in attendance. The cast of television series Ted Lasso, who currently filming in the UK, also watched England win 2-1.
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