Did you watch the football on Sunday? I, along with millions of others did, and depending on your whereabouts in the UK (or beyond), the result would either have filled you with joy or, err, other emotions.
For me, having watched many a disappointing England performance over the years, what a pleasant change it was to be able to cheer on an England team that carves out win after win, even when not playing as well as their opponents.
Anyway, enough of my footie musings. Much more importantly, what does their win mean for publishers?
I asked Richard Reeves, managing director at the AOP, for his thoughts and he told me: “With the Lionesses' huge success comes a massive feel-good factor, creating communities of people keen to surf that wave of euphoria. By creating content that continues to feed and fuel this movement, publishers can expect to reach audiences that wouldn’t have necessarily engaged with their content offering before.
“Building on this creates the opportunity to nurture loyalty with these new audiences. Through an editorial commitment to put the women’s game in the spotlight, exploring opportunities for inclusive coverage, from grassroots to elite, and with the potential to help raise interest to support the funding of the grassroots game, publishers can expect to create vital reader loyalty.
“It’s not just about covering the ‘big games’, it’s the opportunity to align with the sport and help drive wider awareness and adoption, working with the sport to create further touchpoints and enable access. For example, creating initiatives to support funding at the entry level of the sport (such as in schools) or through support of grassroots competitions, tournaments and ‘taster’ events for readers wanting to experience the game.
“All of this doesn’t only apply to football. The women’s Rugby World Cup in September will be hosted in the UK, and the England team is one of the favourites to lift the trophy, representing another significant opportunity to engage with sports lovers. The growing adoption of women’s sports is a massive opportunity for sporting organisations to increase the size of their communities, bringing in new memberships. There’s no reason why that can’t be the same for publishers that provide the platforms to talk about these sports.”
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