It all started back in February 2024 when the National Women’s Soccer League announced a multi-year partnership with Google.
This included Google Pixel as the league’s official mobile phone partner, marking an exciting chapter in the evolution of league and women’s football.
As part of this partnership, Google Pixel became one of the main sponsors of the NWSL Playoffs and Championship. They also introduced the Pitchside with Pixel program to improve fans’ experience.
Fast forward to October, Google is now not only actively helping improve women’s football’s business model in the United States, but in both England and Germany as well.
On October 16th, Kate Johnson, Director of Global Sports, Media, and Entertainment Marketing at Google was interviewed by Footballco’s podcast, entitled ‘The Footballco Business Podcast.
One of the items on the episode’s menu was Google’s evolving involvement in the women’s game.
3 key insights
The most relevant insight is Google‘s position of investing in Women’s Soccer as a business and not only as part of its CSR, as has usually been the case in other partnerships.
This led to an increase in the investment in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) in recent years.
The partnership started when Google acquired the highlights rights, non-live rights, of the NWSL. The relationship has evolved into Google Pixel becoming the presenting sponsor of the NWSL and the Pitchside with Pixel section.
It allows the companies to create new products and interact with younger fans through innovative angles, like the line view.
Victim of its success, the partnership kept growing, helping Google conclude two new partnerships.
It was key to the entrance 4 years ago as the values of these sponsorships have grown. Acquiring them today would require a higher investment with a lower ROIÂ (Return On Investment).
The second key insight is Google’s presence in three important markets.
In addition to their partnership with the NWSL, Google has signed deals in England, with Arsenal Women and Liverpool Women, and in Germany with the Women’s Bundesliga and the National Team.
Three markets with special particularities when it comes to women’s football’s development:
The USA has long been the perfect market for women’s football as the USWNT is the most successful national team in the world. As for the NWSL, the league is in constant development and has attracted big European names in recent years.
Since the Lionesses’ 2022 Euro win, the WSL has grown into one of the world’s best leagues.
However, given that the Women’s Super League (WSL) has a new company leading its high-level management, Google’s investment switched to clubs rather than the league itself.
It has concluded deals with two major clubs, Arsenal and Liverpool, adapting to the specifics of the market, without losing global exposure and association with the sport.
As for Germany, the federation and most of the clubs have long invested in its women’s football.
Thus, Google managed to position itself as a key partner of the sport in three territories with global exposure.
Finally, the strategic approach of sponsoring different assets is important to secure freedom in the creation of content and activations.
Also, securing good partnerships rather than sponsorship deals allows both Google and the other parties to have mutual growth.
A bold strategy
Back in 2020, the future of women’s football did not look as promising as it is right now.
While the game was starting to develop and companies were interested in sponsorship opportunities, the COVID-19 pandemic slowed the whole process and placed the game in the loop.
There were a lot of doubts about how women’s football clubs would survive with the decrease in the revenues of the sports industry. However, new content was developed.
The athletes decided to talk about their daily lives, including their struggles during the lockdown, leading to people connecting with them.
Google was fast to acknowledge this dynamic and found a way to benefit from the fans’ demands to get ‘off-the-pitch’ insights of their favorite players.