Women's soccer at Euro 2025 aims for global impact with world champion Spain eyeing 1st title

GENEVA — The European Championship in women's soccer has global ambitions. The 16-team tournament that opened Wednesday in Switzerland features 31 games in total and will be broadcast in the United States by Fox and across Latin America by Disney+. It will draw a tournament-record attendance of more than 600,000 fans in the eight stadiums with ticket buyers from more than 120 countries, according to European soccer body UEFA. "We knew we needed to activate a bigger global fan base that travels (and) follows their team," said Nadine Kessler, the managing director of women's soccer at UEFA. She said 35% of the tickets sold so far went to traveling fans, including 5,000 to residents of the United States. The biggest international buyer is Switzerland's neighbor, Germany, with 61,000 tickets. "That is unheard of in women's football," Kessler told reporters at a pre-tournament briefing. World champion Spain is the expected favorite — even with a question mark on the status of star Aitana Bonmati — and started Thursday against Portugal in Bern. Record revenueThe third Women's Euros in the 16-team format has drawn record income from broadcasters and sponsors, which include global brands Adidas, Amazon, PlayStation and Visa. Overall tournament revenue close to 130 million euros ($152 million) will be more than double the Euro 2022 edition in England. Prize money also has more than doubled — to 41 million euros ($48 million) from 16 million euros ($18.75 million). The champion can get more than 5 million euros ($5.9 million) if its run includes winning all three group-stage games. The revenue share to clubs releasing players selected for the tournament also doubled, to 9 million euros ($10.5 million), lifted by a bonus subsidy of 3 million euros ($3.5 million) from a similar program for men's national-team competitions in Europe. UEFA will make a loss on the tournament of up to 25 million euros ($29.3 million), but it is happy to do so. "We invest more despite not making money with the Euro because it's just the right thing to do," said Kessler, a former FIFA World Player of the Year who won the Euro 2013 title with Germany.