Nobody watches women’s football
And most importantly: nobody buys it.
We have been accused of this several times against Women’s football – and what exactly that means remains a mystery. From the ideology when we wrote that this was not yet able to support professionalism, a peaceful and respectable consciousness for everyone who knows certain mechanisms, and that this was instead passed off as a reactionary/chauvinistic attack on a new world, that emancipates and confirms us. Nothing could be further from reality.
However, the ideology was exactly the opposite: the one who condescended from above a model that had no solid foundations, neither economic-commercial nor sporting; that of a rising giant – in the Federation sense – but with feet of clay. The point is that we have never had anything against women’s football and the development of women’s football, on the contrary. On the contrary, we hope that it can grow and be raised more and more to a level that is now quite revisable in Italy and beyond – which, however, cannot be said under penalty of the above-mentioned accusations – and thus attract more and more enthusiasts.
But the truth is that nobody cares about women’s football at the moment. Nobody looks at it and above all, no one wants to buy it.
Luca Fazzo chronicles the final episodes in this excellent and detailed film Article in the newspaper, in which he deals with the topic of unlikely contracts, excessive costs and sometimes questionable cost estimates. The end result is as follows: “One game a week on Rai, free to air, bought by the public broadcaster more out of obligation than conviction: the women’s Serie A football series will be reduced to so much this year for Italian viewers, Championship that became professional by decree but finds it difficult to establish itself in media attention. Abandoned by La7, rejected by Dazn and Sky, TV coverage of the women’s Serie A is at a minimum this year.”
It still is: “The association’s promises of media greatness were dashed by the results of a failed game and a production deal (i.e. filming the games) that is now causing controversy». Also because, according to Fazzo, the contract was signed by the Football Association on the basis of “a more than optimistic forecast of the expected income from the sale of rights: 1,750 million (Among industry experts, the commercial value of the women’s series rights is A Estimated between 300,000 and 400,000 EUR)».
The fact is that it is what it is not he agrees Even Fatto Quotidiano with Lorenzo Vendemiale: Nobody cares about women’s football in Italy. «Apart from one big game per day, which is broadcast on Rai, the other games are broadcast by the association on YouTube. Almost as if it were an amateur tournament. Pay TV rights remained unsold: Nobody wants women’s football in Italy (…) In short, in the best case scenario, teams get some visibility but get nothing from the rights. The FIGC, on the other hand, wanted to raise almost a million (on top of expenses).”
For this reason, allow us, the ideology does not belong to those who question the narrative about women’s football – not women’s football itself – its level or its ability to move money and support professionalism. These are no longer the times of Pasolini, who inlast interview of his life, released to Claudio Sabattini in Guerin Sportivo, he could afford to say:
“It’s one thing that women play football unpleasant mimicry a little monkey. They are banned from football like Benvenuti or Monzon.”
Words that would be unspeakable today, in a time when the difference between the sexes has become more cultural than social and more about the mind than the body. However, we said that the ideology was never that of those who raised doubts or criticisms, but that of those who wanted to start Build a pyramid from the top. From those who engineered the explosion of a movement from above that should instead have established itself on its own merits and in a much longer timeframe – today there is also an obligation for every professional club to field at least one U17 women’s team, which, however, is paid by several clubs.
Ultimately, it is unfortunate that the only way, at least in these times, to restore a modicum of historical truth is the law (and offer) of market. If it’s free and unconditional, it never reveals whether you like it or not.
