Significant Attendance Decline Threatens Professional Status of Spanish Women's Football Liga F
Attendance in Spain's Liga F has dropped sharply, prompting financial and organizational interventions by the RFEF amid fears of losing professional status.
- • Liga F attendance has dropped 20% compared to last season, with marquee matches seeing 40% declines.
- • Average spectators per match reached a low of 651 in the sixth round, slightly recovering in later rounds due to a few high-profile games.
- • RFEF has allocated 156,250 euros per club and convened meetings to address financial and governance concerns.
- • There are growing fears of 'desprofessionalization' with legal provisions allowing RFEF to take control if the league is unsustainable.
Key details
Attendance figures in Spain's women's professional football league, Liga F, have plummeted by 20% compared to the previous season, signaling a critical challenge for the league's sustainability and future as a professional competition. Notably, matches featuring top teams like Real Madrid and FC Barcelona have experienced an even sharper drop, with attendance declining by 40%, despite high-profile venues such as San Mamés hosting these games.
The sixth round of Liga F saw an alarmingly low average of 651 spectators per match, although this number slightly rebounded to over 2,000 in the seventh round, largely driven by the Athletic Bilbao versus Real Madrid game. The eighth round attracted 4,350 fans for FC Barcelona's match against Granada at the Johan Cruyff Stadium; however, this figure nearly equaled the combined attendance of all other matches that round, highlighting uneven fan engagement. Overall average attendance after eight rounds remains well below initial expectations post-professionalization, which was supported by over 40 million euros in public funds.
The Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), under President Rafael Louzán, has expressed deep concerns about the league's governance and financial viability. In response, the RFEF convened meetings with all 16 Liga F clubs in Málaga to address these issues and coordinate financial strategies. The federation has allocated 156,250 euros to each club for the 2024-2025 season, a total of 2.5 million euros, with assurances of continued funding for future seasons.
Despite these efforts, fears of 'desprofessionalization' loom large, as dictated by Spain's Ley del Deporte, which permits the RFEF to assume control if the league fails to operate independently and sustainably. This crisis parallels past difficulties in women's sports, raising urgent questions about the direction of Liga F and the broader state of women's football in Spain.
Pedro Malabia, a voice critical of the current situation, lamented the ongoing low attendance and the league's financial dependence, suggesting that the reality contradicts the promise that professionalization would ensure the league's stability and growth. The combination of falling fan numbers and governance concerns has put the entire structure of Spanish women's professional football under scrutiny.
As Liga F completes its initial rounds of the 2024-2025 season, stakeholders face mounting pressure to reverse these trends to safeguard the league's professional license and secure a viable future for women's football in Spain.
This article was synthesized and translated from native language sources to provide English-speaking readers with local perspectives.