‘I was shocked when I heard that 59 percent of the population hadn’t gone to see a live women’s sports event’

SHOCKED – that was Melissa Duggan’s reaction to research that showed nearly 60 percent of Irish people have never attended a female sports event.  

That was one of several startling findings from research carried out by Red C in December 2023 to examine the public’s attitudes towards attending female sports. 

‘I was shocked when I heard that 59 percent of the population hadn’t gone to see a live women’s sports event,’ the Cork footballer told this week’s Star Sport Podcast.. 

‘I didn’t think the figure would be as high and I thought that more people had attended women’s sporting events, especially in recent years given the ladies’ games getting higher attendances for All-Ireland and league finals, and the women’s soccer team going to the World Cup. 

‘Women’s sport has grown in recent years but this shows that as much as it has grown, there is still room for more growth, more opportunities to enhance the game more and to get more people to go and see the games.

‘This is not just about the big games and the finals, it’s about the smaller games too – we are starting our league campaign on Sunday. We never had huge numbers at the league, only maybe towards the end of the league when it’s a final; that’s one area that could be looked into, to get more fans to league games.’

Some of the staggering stats from the research, released ahead of the recent launch of the 2024 Lidl National Leagues, include:

• 59 percent have never attended a female sports event in Ireland.
• 59 percent would watch a men's sports event on TV over attending a female sports event in person. 
• 54 percent of those that attend female sports events would attend a male event over a female event.
• Nine percent would choose to attend a female sports event over an equivalent male sports event. 

Also, the research highlighted barriers that impact peoples’ decision to attend women’s sports events, which include – 41 percent not knowing or hearing about the event, 37 percent saying the venue is not easy to get to, 34 percent feeling ticket price is too high, while 34 percent don’t know anyone who is playing. 

All-Star Cork footballer Melissa Duggan feels that the more ladies’ football games on TV, the better, to increase awareness of the quality on offer.

‘The more games that are on TV the better because it will show people who are sitting at home and watching the games how high the level of football is,’ Duggan said.

‘We put in the work in training, the work in the gym, the work in matches. The level has improved in recent years. We train at such a high level, and that’s the same for all counties, so the standard is very high now. 

‘I think more TV coverage will give us a better chance of getting more people to go to the games, so people at home can see that ladies football is enjoyable and easy to watch. The better we get, the better every county gets, the standard will rise and hopefully that will encourage more people to go to watch the games then.’

The Cork star also feels it’s important that more neutral supporters attend games, rather than just family and friends of players – and this will all increase the attendances at matches.

‘The coverage we have had through the media has improved significantly and it has helped to spread the word but we need the people to come out and support it more by going to watch games,’ she added.