Women’s Pro Team Sports
A Global Perspective
By Dr. Roger Best and Dr. Dennis Howard
Fans around the world follow American football and its premier professional organization, the National Football League. But many spectators do not realize several other countries have created professional American football leagues. One such country is Egypt.
Launched in 2014, the Egyptian Federation of American Football has eight teams. And two of the teams—the She-Wolves and Transforma Pink Warriors—are women’s teams (1). Since 2014, the number of men’s teams has expanded to eight and women’s teams to 6 as popularity and participation in American Football in Egypt have grown.
American Professional Football in Egypt
Egypt’s Men’s American Football
Egypt’s Women’s American Flag Football
Women’s Pro Sports: An Overview
Of the 3,722 professional sports teams across the globe, 826 (22.2%) are dedicated to women. Soccer is the largest pro team sport, with 1,128 teams worldwide. Forty percent of the world’s professional soccer teams are composed of women. In professional basketball, 20% of all teams are for women, making the two sports important strategic opportunities for companies selling women’s footwear, apparel and equipment.
Women’s sports participation and professional teams are growing at a faster rate than those of men, especially in countries outside the United States. For example, the women’s national cricket teams in India and England receive regular airtime on Sky Sports and Fox Sports. And with record attendance and viewing for the 2020 Women’s Cricket World Cup, the Australian women’s team won a $1 million prize for prevailing in the event. The men’s national teams played for a similar prize in 2021.
The figure below summarizes the top 10 professional team sports, indicating the number of teams worldwide and the percentage that are women’s teams. The largest fan base worldwide is for soccer, with 3.5 billion fans, followed by cricket (2.5 billion fans) and basketball (2.2 billion fans). All three are growing in terms of the number of fans following the women’s pro teams in each sport.
Egypt’s Women’s Flag Football Champions
India’s Women’s Cricket Team
Women’s Pro Sports: Country Participation
Where are women’s professional sports teams flourishing? Shown below are the top 10 countries based on percentage of women’s professional teams among total teams. Australia has 164 pro sports teams, 68 of which are women’s, 42.1% of the total. England has 69 women’s professional sports teams, 39.3% of the country’s 175 total teams. China is number 3 in women’s participation, with 47 teams making up 31.5% of the country’s 149 total teams.
The percentage of women’s professional teams in the United States is only 17.9%, or 32 of 179. The United States is behind eight other countries in women’s participation, and industry analysts expect the number to increase in the coming years.
The information in this blog was derived from Chapter 11, “The Top 10 Sports Countries,” in The Global Sports Industry, a book by Dr. Roger Best and Dr. Dennis Howard (www.globalsportsinsights.com).
References:
- The Egyptian Federation of American Football | About EFAF. The Egyptian Federation of American Football.
