Record-breaking viewership numbers characterised the 2019 Women’s World Cup as the tournament held in France has been judged an enormous success in the digital world. Presenter NICOLE HOLLIDAY, who travelled and hosted shows with the England players during the tournament, joined Gianluca Lia in a conversation about the importance of media coverage in the women’s game…

Over the months of June and July, the Women’s World Cup has been a hit with a large number of viewers tuning in to watch the 52 games from the biggest competition of the ‘Beautiful Game’.

Prior to the tournament, FIFA had announced its objective to reach more than one billion viewers across all platforms and at the end of the tournament governing ended, it was estimated that task was fulfilled.

TV records have been broken in many countries including in France, the United States, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and England.

For example, 59 million people have reportedly tuned in for the last 16 encounter between hosts France and Brazil – that turned out to be the most watched women’s football match in history.

The final, contested by the US and the Dutch, drew 88 per cent spectators in the Netherlands (the highest TV audience since Netherlands vs Argentina of the 2014 Men’s World Cup) while in the US, it generated an audience 22 per cent higher than the 2018 World Cup final.

Meanwhile, in England, the semi-final between the Lionesses and the USA was watched by a peak audience of 11.7 million people, making it the best UK television audience for 2019 while setting a new record for a women’s football game there.

Led by former Manchester United player Phil Neville, the England women’s national team was one of the most active teams on social media and their enthusiasm drew a lot of sympathy towards them.

Presenter Nicole Holliday contributed to the media part of the England players through her social media show, ‘Lionesses Daily’.

“I have been part of a show called ‘Lionesses Daily’ which we produced on a daily basis, where we had numerous discussions with the players and also Phil Neville himself,” Holliday told Times of Malta.

“We went a few days before the tournament started, in order to create the proper hype for the tournament as the aim of show was to engage the audience with the Women’s World Cup and with the England team.

“We drove a 4x4 Jeep across the country where we had the opportunity to also meet with the fans, in particular on Matchdays where the England fans were located in several pubs and we would go and chat with them, soaking in the atmosphere and hype for the games – that was a really cool part in our show.”

Holliday said that what made this women’s tournament a special one was the background stories of the participating athletes, most of them having a lot of hurdles to overcome in their respective societies throughout their lives.

“What I liked most from this tournament was that the players were eager to speak out and recall their stories,” Holliday explained.

“They were not afraid of having their quotes put out of context and I feel that I forged good rapport with the players, which I hope it helped in portraying a good image of these players.

“Given that the players were constantly committed to formal duties, we tried to make this show a bit different, with some fun segments as well that showed their charisma and their human aspect.”

Holliday stressed the fact that this show also helped the players become aware of the interest across the United Kingdom in their World Cup journey.

“Sometimes, on this show we discussed some personal stuff and it was nice seeing them speaking with an open mind,” Holliday underlined.

“Moreover, there were segments in which we showed messages of the fans from around the UK and this helped the players to remain motivated and try to transform the support into inspiration.”

The English presenter explained that this show helped her to learn more about the players, especially because it is difficult to find online information about most of the women players.

“One of our segments was called ‘Five things you did not know’ and this was very special for me because I got to learn a lot of stuff about these fantastic athletes,” Holliday said.

“While doing my research about these players, I found it hard to find some proper information online, unlike in men’s football for example.”

Throughout the men’s competition held in Russia last year, the English FA produced a similar show and Holliday heaped praise on the association for putting the same effort for the women’s competition.

In the past, Holliday had also a media experience at Premier League side Arsenal, where most of her content was produced for the men’s team.

Asked about any difference in the preparation of a content between the men’s and women’s game, Holliday underlined that the biggest difference is the lack of information about the women players.

“Such close interactions with the players in both the men and women’ s game, however, helped me learn more about what it takes being a professional athlete,” Holliday added.

“It is not easy for them to soak in all the pressure, in particular when they speak in public because any word they say carries a lot of weight.” 

Clubs interests

One hopes that the momentum in the women’s game will transcend into club football, where England’s top-flight, the Women’s Super League (WSL), is looking to capitalise on the huge interest in this movement.

In fact, the FA announced that in the opening week, Manchester City will host Manchester United at the Etihad Stadium while the London derby between Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur is going to be hosted at Stamford Bridge, in September.

In addition, Tottenham will host North London rivals Arsenal at the new Tottenham stadium, in November.

“I hope that the momentum in the women’s game gets carried into club football because it is important that people show up at the games of their local clubs,” Holliday added.

“Lately, there have been some interesting debates about whether playing these games as double-headers in conjunction with the men fixtures or if it is better trying to sell out their current venues rather than maybe scheduling their games in front of half-empty Premier League stadia.

“However, the fact that the English FA is holding such talks and portraying these bold and big moves is a step forward for this game.

“Hopefully the product on the field and the engagement around will be of high quality to maintain this product at its highest levels.”