How the Women’s Super League found an unlikely market in Japan: ‘Let’s embrace this’

Key Highlights

• “On those platforms that we know the Japanese market are looking at, on YouTube, TikTok and Instagram, we’ve featured those players quite heavily,” says Duckmanton.
• “We’ve got this perfect storm of wanting to increase the visibility of Everton Women, the league’s continued expansion internationally and players who’ve really bought into that, and are at the heart of what social media is because they’ve grown up with it.
• By them creating their own content and their own channels, the club has seen a massive uplift.”While fans from Liverpool and Greater Manchester still dominate ticket sales for Everton Women, international growth opens up new revenue streams.
• The women’s team pages on Everton’s website have enjoyed a 33 per cent increase in traffic from Japan, according to Duckmanton.“The impact that these players are having, plus the growth of the Women’s Super League (WSL), is translating back to direct interest in Everton Football Club,” Duckmanton says.
• “We’re really starting to see our Japanese fans come through and start to become an active member of our community.”AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementHe outlines the trajectory: fans to purchasers, purchasers to subscribers to Everton TV, and on and on.