Executive summary Women’s football in England has developed hugely over recent years, none more so than with the introduction of the women’s super league in 2011 as well as the unprecedented success of team GB at the London Olympics in 2012. The London Olympics was vastly important in one’s opinion and a major turning point with over 70,000 attending the final group game against Brazil. Additionally the recent friendly for England against Germany last November has created a further appetite for women’s football in this country with over 45,000 attending this one off friendly. Furthermore looking at the league as a whole it is clear that the competiveness of it has improved too with a number of teams becoming professional as well as the title being decided on the last day this year and last. With various approaches to marketing and types of merchandise, I feel the sport can continue to grow and inspire youngsters to get behind their local ladies side. I hope you enjoy reading this and consider the ideas I have mentioned. This is a MUST for any fan of the women’s game, but also a fan of football in general. I feel by launching this your giving all the fans of the WSL a platform to make connections with each other over various social media platforms, like Twitter and Facebook. Furthermore by having FAWSL Fantasy Football it is a way to increase interest in the women’s side of the sport from followers of men’s football. The reason I say this is that we all know how popular fantasy football is with all the different versions across various websites, but given that part of the season takes place when there is no men’s football this would be an irresistible opportunity to turn down as there would be no competition against alternatives and that fans of all ages would be desperate to give it go. The way the FAWSL Fantasy Football would work would be each participant would have a given budget to create their team with a selection pool of players from WSL1 & WSL2 to pick from. Each player from the FAWSL would have a price tag based on WSL performances and form, such as clean sheets, assists and goals scored depending on their position. Every time a FAWSL match is played points will be awarded when goalkeepers and defenders keep clean sheets and when any player provide an assists or score a goal as well as bonus points for things such as player of the match or penalties. While points would be deducted for goalkeepers and defenders when they fail to keep a clean sheet, for any player when they concede a penalty, miss a penalty or receive a yellow card as well as a double point deduction should a player be sent off. Also one of the chosen selections will be made captained meaning for example if the participant chose Steph Houghton as captain, her points for that week would be doubled. Rules in brief
Action Points Player of the match 6 Goal scored 5 Goalkeeper clean sheet 5 Assist 3 Defender clean sheet 3 Appearance 2 Yellow card -1 Penalty conceded -1 2 goals conceded -2 Own goal -2 Red card -3 This sponsorship contains ideas of companies I believe the FAWSL can target to secure sponsorship rights to the league. The companies/organisation I have selected I feel can add value to the league and portray the positive message about the women’s game. Vitality PruHealth is the first suggestion as it portrays healthy living, which is what fits in with the FA’s strategy of getting children and young adults to partake in football and become more active as a result. A major factor to PruHealth becoming the title sponsor would be the various brand ambassadors they currently have like Jessica Ennis-Hill. So by signing a deal there may be scope for PruHealth recruiting a number of ‘big name’ FAWSL players to be brand ambassadors. Bannatyne Health Clubs could be another option. Similar to PruHealth it would help promote a healthy lifestyle as well as proving to be a key commercial partner in FAWSL. For example the league could have deals with Bannatyne’s which allow FAWSL season ticket holders to get a discount on using its gym along with many other deals. In return Bannatyne would be the leagues title sponsor and would be able to tap into the current rise of women’s football, partly due to the Lionesses success at the recent World Cup. An alternative sponsor would be a supermarket chain given that Tesco has been the sponsor of the Premier League since 2007. However there should be a lot more marketing of the FAWSL supermarket sponsorship, as opposed to the Premier League one. I suggest that a deal could consist of 3 star players on a poster all posing in the chosen supermarket branded kit in the clubs local store, as this would get the attention of young fans and adults alike as they do their daily shopping. Also the FAWSL logo should appear in the corner of the supermarket television adverts, in return the supermarket should receive 4 advertising hoardings in prime positions around the ground on matchday’s. Another improvement which I feel could be beneficiary lies within the marketing of the league. I feel the MLS in the men’s game can be looked at for inspiration with the way it markets itself. For example for the 2015 season the MLS developed 1 patch with a range of colours depending what the colours of that specific team are. So for example a Notts County Ladies patch would be black & white with black trim, whereas an Arsenal Ladies one would be red & white with red trim. Below are the MLS patch examples I have mentioned. So I feel the FAWSL can do something similar based on this idea as it has helped engage fans give clubs their own identity. Another suggestion which I would like to make which will further add to the FAWSL ‘own identity’ is the shirt printing. So instead of having printing from the means team (i.e. Arsenal Ladies wear Premier League numbering, whereas Notts County Ladies wear Football League numbering), introduce player jersey numbers with the FAWSL logo on. By doing this I feel it will enhance the league as a brand as well as getting the public and fans alike to take note. Additionally to this an innovative idea would be to include the FAWSL Twitter handle or hashtag on the numbering as this would be a very original way to gain followers, especially when matches are televised and the consumer sees this during the match. Above is the example of the lettering proposed for the clubs to include the FAWSL # or the twitter handle. This is an issue that has got a lot of fans of the women’s game including myself talking. Each year interest in the game keeps increasing and its pleasing to see that is being recognised with the coverage on television. However I feel more could be done as currently BBC’s the Women’s Football Show is only on once a month, while BT Sport show the WSL Review Show which is on after each round of games. What I am suggesting is that each show is expanded in coverage, so starting with the Women’s Football Show it would be beneficial by making it a weekly show and possibly expanding the running time from the current 30 minutes slot to between 45 minutes to 1 hour. However I appreciate this will be down to production costs and after speaking to various people on social media the preferred option would be to make the show weekly rather than keeping it monthly with an expanded running time. The other show which is of a game by game format is the WSL Review Show which despite only seeing a couple makes for excellent viewing. In my opinion it is quite difficult to improve this show as it offers a lot already by giving coverage of both FAWSL 1 & 2 as well as extended interviews which give viewers a further insight into the women’s game. As touched on in the second paragraph I and a lot feel it would help strengthen the women’s game further is if the Women’s Football Show was made weekly (or at least every matchday) for terrestrial TV. Failing this a women’s equivalent to Match of the Day could be introduced showcasing both FAWSL leagues, as WSL2 hardly receives any coverage. Again this will be a discussion between the league and the TV companies, but in my opinion would really help to build on the legacy that women’s football is creating. Leading on from the previous point is the suggesting of televising FA Cup coverage. I like many fans enjoy watching the women’s FA cup final, but I feel the enjoyment factor could be enhanced by showing games from previous rounds of the FA Cup. This would increase interest in the game as well as giving a range of teams much needed publicity. Furthermore as women’s cup football is not that widely watched the TV Company in charge of airing this may be able to show games for limited costs as the teams involved in televised matches would receive plenty of exposure from the game itself. By showing more games fans of all teams would experience the journey that their teams go on in order to put themselves in the history book. Also by airing various games it hopefully would get people following their local women’s team, or it may get spectators of the men’s game to follow the women’s part of the club (such as Arsenal & Arsenal Ladies or Portsmouth & Portsmouth Ladies). This is vitally important for growing the league as a competition and as a brand. Women’s football is known for its family friendly atmosphere, so by bringing out a range of FAWSL merchandise that appeals to kids (and adults alike) it would inspire them to take up the game as well increasing attendances further.
Summary of merchandise/products:
FAWSL card game collectionThis involves both leagues (1 & 2) and would be aimed at a similar target market like the above product. Each card would have a player from one of the teams on it and would include a number of ratings (e.g. defence & attack) which would form part of a game where young fans can collect, play and trade with other likewise fans. The cards would come in a pack of 5 and the price point I would suggest is 50p (£0.5) per pack. FAWSL car stickersThese would be a cheap item where fans can pledge their loyalty to the women’s game through these unique scar stickers which read “I am a proud supporter of the women’s game”. I would suggest that each car sticker has a retail price of 20p (£0.2). Soft toys with the WSL logo onThe soft toys could be the bear which is the mascot of the league. I feel this product would have a broad appeal to the fanbase and even attract new fans to the game. The retail price for this can range from £2.00-£5.00 and be sold in all FAWSL club shops. Drinks bottle with WSL logo onThe drinks bottle could come in a range of colours and on the FAWSL logo on. With manufacturing costs quite cheap for this product I think the price could be around £1.00-£2.00. Adult/Kids silicon wristbands with WSL logo on.These wristbands would come in a range of colours and appeal to fans of all ages. The wristbands could have a mini imprint of the logo on it along with the FAWSL twitter handle or hashtag. By having this on the bands I feel it would increase fan engagement and help grow the game further. The retail price for a single band should be £1.00 and there should be about 6 different colours to collect. FAWSL annual calendarThis would appeal to all fans of the league with the calendar having significant moments that have happened throughout the previous year. The moments to go into the calendar could be things like the FAWSL 1 & 2 winners, FA Cup winners, Continental Cup winners and important/landmark goals. I would suggest pricing the calendar at £9.99 due to it being of A3 size.
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