After 43 years of the release of the ball at women’s feet, the road to equal sponsorship between women’s and men’s football is still long
“It’s not allowed [à mulher] the practice of fights of any nature, soccer, indoor soccer, beach soccer, water polo, polo, rugby, weightlifting and baseball”. This is the text of Deliberation No. 7, signed by General Eloy Massey Oliveira de Menezes , president of the National Sports Council, on August 2, 1965, during the military dictatorship.
The decree-law was only revoked in 1979.
After 43 years of the return of women’s freedom in the practice of sport, women’s football still has a long way to go compared to men’s, although it is already possible to see an important movement. In the United States, for example, the women’s team achieved equal pay with the men’s team, as recently announced by US Soccer, the entity that takes care of soccer in the country.
As a result, the women’s team – four-time World Cup champions – will receive the same prizes for participation in World Cups and Olympics as the men’s team, which has never won a Cup or Olympics.
For Amir Somoggi, managing director of Sports Value, women’s football is currently at its best. “When you compare, for example, the growth of audiences for the women’s World Cup versus the men’s World Cup, you see a tremendous increase in the interest and impact of women’s football organized by FIFA,” he said.
In 2019, the women’s world championship was watched by more than 1 billion people, according to FIFA data. Even so, the discrepancy of money invested in women players is clear.
In 2018, for example, FIFA dedicated US$400 million to the men’s World Cup, while the women’s tournament had to settle for US$30 million, double the investment made in the 2015 competition.
Fabio Wolff, managing partner of Wolff Sports & Marketing, believes that over the years, the disparity in investments in sports will decrease, but that equalization is still a long way off.
“Who knows, 20 years from now. For this to happen, entities, clubs, agencies, the entire women’s football scene must continue to believe in the product and continue investing,” said Wolff.
Even if it takes time, let the truth be told: women’s football has conquered its space in people’s homes.
Globo and the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) closed an agreement for the transmission of the main competitions in women’s football, such as the Brasileirão, the women’s Supercup and friendlies of the Brazilian team, the men’s Supercup 2022 and under-20 youth tournaments. and under-17.
From 2023, TV Globo will also show the decisive phase of the championship and the production of the games will be the responsibility of CBF, which will provide the signals of the matches.
brands
Fortunately, nowadays it is already possible to find campaigns and actions aimed at women’s football. Recently, Puma, together with BETC Havas, launched the #JogaNaSubida action, with the aim of drawing attention to the low investment in women’s football. With a reclining court, the brand invited two male teams to play.
In the same way, Betfair was announced as the official sponsor of the Palmeiras women’s team. The two-year contract includes the company’s exposure in the team’s uniform and presence in all official Palmeiras digital content.
According to Kimberley Day, Marketing Director at Betfair, the company, together with the Alvi Verde team, will develop a series of activities with the aim of promoting and giving visibility to the women’s team.
The first involved former player Rivaldo, who watched one of the women’s team’s games against RB Bragantino, last Sunday (15th).
“For Betfair, it is an honor to be able to directly support women’s football, which is an area that we consider extremely important, even more so in a country with such an intense relationship and passion as we see with football in Brazil,” said Day.
For some time now, brands have been positioning themselves in favor of women’s football. In 2020, Nike launched a campaign calling for gender equality in football.
The communication, signed by Wieden+Kennedy São Paulo, showed that the difficulties arising from the Covid-19 pandemic, such as empty stadiums and lack of funds, were already common in women’s football.
Also in 2020, Guaraná Antarctica, sponsor of the Brasileirão Feminino Série A1, used space on the field boards to summon other brands to support the sport.
Created by Soko, during the championship games, the brand displayed messages of support and encouragement for women’s football, in place of its logo.
In addition, the company created the #SupportOFutFeminino campaign, where brands that invested in Women’s Football could appear on more than 30 million cans of the soft drink across Brazil.
differences
It is impossible to talk about the financial differences between men’s and women’s football, without bumping into the structural machismo imposed by society since its beginnings.
“Because of machismo, many children are treated differently based on their gender, so the boys get a ball, shirt, boots and the girl gets makeup, princess clothes,” said Somoggi.
For the specialist, one of the solutions for the female category to be valued is to have more and more women in the sport.
“The fewer women practicing sports, the less interest in sponsoring brands, television audiences, events etc. So, one of the fundamental points for women’s sports is to attract a greater number of girls who practice sports”, he explained.
Somoggi also stressed the importance of having idols in sports. “It’s important to have a Marta, a Rebeca, a Raissa, for example. They are women who will inspire other women. So, the fundamental aspect of activism and the struggle of women’s football is also so that idol women are respected and influence men and women, obviously”.
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Amir Somoggi, Managing Director of Sports Value, on investing in women’s football
“With regard to women’s football, without a doubt it is at its best. When you compare, for example, the growth of audiences for the Women’s World Cup versus the Men’s World Cup, you see a dramatic increase in the interest and impact of women’s football organized by FIFA and the Copa do Brasil, Cup of Russia doesn’t matter. , with a very organic growth, very small because it is already established. So, the difference between women’s football and men’s football is that it’s an ocean of opportunities to develop. One of the fundamental points that you always have to address when talking about women’s sports is the difference in sports practice between men and women, especially in poor countries such as Brazil. Because of machismo, many children are treated differently based on their gender, so the boys get a ball, t-shirt, boots and the girl gets makeup, princess clothes. This sounds like a stereotype, but if you go to a park it is very clear. So, less women practicing sports, less interest in sponsoring brands, in television audiences, in events, etc. So one of the fundamental points of women’s sports is to attract a greater number of girls who practice sports, because this is very strong in developed countries and very fragile. in developing countries”.
“It’s obvious that there is a discrepancy between men and women when it comes to values, salaries, awards, sponsorships… Even Serena Williams earns much less than LeBron James, which doesn’t make sense since she has a level, or at least the same level of it comparatively, so there is this a problem with women’s football, with women’s sport as a product. But, in my opinion, if you compare, for example, how important women’s soccer is in the United States compared to men’s soccer, it seems to me that it is a discrepancy because meritocracy is not being applied to women’s soccer. In China, Canada, Sweden, Denmark, countries where women’s football is sometimes much better than men’s, players are not paid for it and, in my opinion, there has to be a meritocracy in the following way: where the sport The female idol is strong, you have to earn more and the cult of the female idol is very important, so the more we develop female sports through their idols, and that’s why it’s important to have a Marta, a Rebeca, a Raissa, for example . These are women who are going to inspire other women, you know? It doesn’t matter, that’s how it works. So, the fundamental aspect of women’s football activism and struggle is also for idol women to be respected and to be influencers of men and women, obviously. So, women’s sport also needs male interest and this is clearly seen in the Olympics, in the Pan-American Games… This has to happen on a daily basis”.
“Women’s football has a lot of strength as a modality that can leverage the brand of several clubs. You have examples in Mexico, for example, of teams that are getting bigger in the women’s team than in the men’s team and I think that’s wonderful. I see this as an example, including football. Flamengo, for example, is a giant in football and a giant in basketball, it is also dominating the basketball scene. What I mean by that is that you can have women’s football winning everything and men’s football sometimes won’t, so you have to have that potency, that strength. Barcelona itself put more than 90,000 people, between men and women, to watch the team’s women’s football in the Homeric game against Real Madrid. So what I want to show is that talking about women’s football is talking about activism. I have studies that show that women give a lot of return to the sponsoring brand because they embrace the brand that supports them and because they see women’s sport as a matter of women’s struggle for their equal rights, so I think it’s impossible not to run away. of this topic, but it is very important to integrate communication and marketing work in women’s football, not only in terms of investment, but also to attract men’s interest in women’s sport. So, women’s football needs the female audience and the male audience to attract more investment and grow.
