'What more can we do?': LGFA stars shocked at research on support levels

Síofra O’Shea, Carla Rowe and Emma Duggan are surprised at new research findings.

SHOCK: Síofra O’Shea of Kerry stands for a portrait at the launch of the 2024 Lidl Ladies National Football Leagues at Croke Park in Dublin. Pic: Sam Barnes, Sportsfile

KERRY football star Síofra O’Shea has described the latest research on public perceptions and support for Irish women’s sport as both “eye-opening and disappointing.” 

Dublin’s Carla Rowe and Meath’s Emma Duggan were similarly shocked to hear that almost two thirds of those surveyed (59%) had never attended a female sports event and O’Shea said the statistics were particularly disappointing “from people who know the games are on and just don’t make the effort to go.” 

She was speaking at the launch of the 2024 Lidl National Leagues which presented the new research, by Red C, from a sample of 1,000 people.

It found that Irish people are five times more likely to attend a premier men’s sporting event than a female equivalent. Almost half (46%) said that men’s sport is generally better to watch and 59% said they would prefer to watch men’s sport on TV than attend a live female sporting event.

“It’s mad to think considering the work we put in is as much, if not more, than the men at this stage,” said Meath’s shooting star Duggan. 

“We train as hard – on the pitch, off the pitch, in the gym. To hear that people still have them perceptions is quite eye-opening. I don’t know what more we can do.” 

Lidl have produced a new advertising campaign (#GetBehindTheFight) to build bigger live audiences during this year’s NFL and invited two international experts to their launch to underline how attendances have been grown elsewhere.

Lindsay Peterson, Director of Operations for volleyball in the University of Nebraska, explained how they achieved a world record attendance of 92,003 for a women’s event last August.

The state of Nebraska doesn’t have any professional sports team, giving the college a captive audience for sport and they also closed the university (of 22,000 students) for the whole day.

The FA’s head of operations for women’s soccer, Holly Murdoch, gave testimony about the exponential growth of the Barclays Women’s Super League and the knock-on effects of England’s success in the 2022 European Championships. Last year’s women’s FA Cup final attracted 77,390 and there was 87,192 at the Euro22 Final.

O’Shea said Kerry’s ladies – the reigning Division One NFL champions and beaten All-Ireland finalists in 2023 – have been getting significantly better crowds in recent years and suggested special initiatives to boost attendances at home league games as the way forward.

“This is my sixth or seventh season and I’ve seen massive changes in attendances and people talking about us or knowing who we are. The runs we’ve gone on in the last few years have helped. Doing well increases your profile,” she noted.

“In our home quarter-final last year against Meath it was a horrible night but the stadium was full. The men were playing their semi-final in Dublin the next day but people still made the effort to come out. To see that support, on such a bad night, was great.

“It’s all well and good going out to support your team on the last day (of the season) but it’s the week in, week out games, where there’s only a couple of hundred there, that’s where it (attendances) can be increased more,” she added.

“If it’s local there’s not too many excuses not to get out. I think it’s more about targeting those games and increasing those (home league) attendances that will spark more interest.” 

Lidl’s latest research underlined just how much lip service is still paid to women’s sport.

Three-quarters (74%) of those polled thought it was a shame that more people didn’t attend and 42% said they would be interested in attending a female sporting event but clearly haven’t yet done so.

Out of the 25% of the population who do attend live female sporting events, spectators are more likely to be male (57%) than female (43%) and aged between 35-54 years.

The perceived barriers include lack of media coverage (40%), venues not being easy to get to (37%), not knowing anyone that is playing (34%) and ticket prices being too high (34%).

The Lidl National Football Leagues kick off with Division Four fixtures on Sunday before all divisions begin on Saturday week, including a massive re-match of the 2023 All-Ireland final between Dublin and Kerry in Parnell Park (5:15pm) but the Kingdom will be without O’Shea for the whole league as she is fourth months into rehab after her post-All-Ireland ACL surgery.