There were whispers leading up to Women's Euro 2025 that the tournament would struggle to match the 2022 edition when it came to attendances, broadcast numbers, revenue and growth.

But as the curtain came down, and England successfully defended its title in Basel, all those fears were cast aside. Over the past month, it's fair to say that Women's Euro 2025 emphatically delivered the best European Championship in its history, on and off the pitch. In fact, this Euros was the biggest ever, and here's why.

Stadium attendances

There was an assertion that because 2025 host Switzerland didn't have a stadium bigger than St. Jakob-Park, capacity 34,000, the tournament would struggle to match 2022 hosts England when it came to eye-catching attendances.

However, in reality, England's attendance figures in 2022 were warped by the team's opening match, played in front of 68,871 at Old Trafford, and the final, which saw a Women's Euros record of 87,192 pack out Wembley Stadium.

Per game, the average attendance at Women's Euro 2025 was 21,203 compared to 18,544 in 2022 (14,441 if you don't include Old Trafford and Wembley). The 21,203 figure feels like a good bar to clear when it comes to planning the next tournament in 2029.

Women's Euro 2025 also had the two highest-attended quarterfinals in competition history. The hosts were roared on against Spain in Bern in front of 29,734, while the very next day in Basel saw 34,128 in attendance for France against Germany.

France fans against Germany.
With their proximity to host-nation Switzerland, French fans came out in droves. | Jose Breton/Pics Action/NurPhoto/Getty Images

Women's Euro 2025 sold out 29 of 31 matches, with a record-breaking 657,291 people attending the entire tournament. In 2022, that number was 574,875. There's an argument to be made that the stadium sizes between 8,000 and 34,000 were perfectly sized to deliver steady growth and a great atmosphere.

Traveling fans

Speaking of atmospheres, even more compelling than just increasing attendance was the increase in traveling fans from various nations. UEFA says that an estimated 65% of tickets (472,240) were sold to fans outside of Switzerland.

This was a marked improvement on 2022, and something that helped provide an eclectic cultural mix to the way soccer is supported in Europe.

The proximity of France and Germany to Switzerland may well have helped create such raucous support throughout, but Women's Euro 2025 will also be remembered for the partying Dutch in Lucerne, the colorful Swedes marching through Zurich in the quarterfinals and the nearly 15,000 English fans that took over Basel for the final.

Prize Money

UEFA paid out a record €41 million ($47.3 million) in prize money at Women's Euro 2025. Notably, this was a 156% increase from 2022 (€16 million), and a 500% increase from 2017 (€8 million).

Every participating country at Women's Euro 2025 cashed €1.8 million, which makes up 70% of the total prize money. The remaining 30% will come in the form of bonuses. €50,000 for a draw and €100,000 for a win in the group stage.

Then, there were additional bonuses for advancing further into the tournament: €550,000 for the quarterfinals, €700,000 for the semifinals, €850,000 for the final and an additional €900,000 for the winning nation. In total, England cashed in €5.1 million for lifting the trophy in Basel.

Broadcast Figures

Women's Euro 2025 hit a new record of broadcasting matches in over 165 territories. Per UEFA, worldwide broadcast figures surpassed 500 million viewers across the duration of the tournament, with 45 million viewers worldwide tuning in for the final. Both of those figures were records.

In the United Kingdom, according to the BBC and ITV, 16.4 million watched England beat Spain in the 2025 final, which was only marginally less than the 17.4 million who watched in 2022 when England hosted.

This is a sign that it is hard to match the momentum and interest of a host nation. However, Sunday's final was still the second-most-watched English women's soccer match in history, and the most-watched event of 2025 in the United Kingdom.

Interestingly, the BBC said that 1.1 million listened to the game on Radio 5Live in the BBC Sounds app, which was an increase of 122% from 2022.

Similarly to England, 14.5 million people in Germany tuned in to watch the semifinal between Germany and Spain. This was also the second-most-watched German women's soccer match in history, after the 2022 final, where 17.9 million were glued to their televisions.

When you look further afield, there has been a much greater increase in interest in the Euros. In the United States, the audience viewing figures on FOX were roughly three times what they were in 2022.

In the group stage, FOX saw its viewing average jump from 160,000 in 2022 to 308,000 in 2025. In the quarterfinals, the 2025 average was 776,000 per game, up from 283,000 in 2022. Both 2025 semifinals had over one million viewers, which was a 174% increase from 2022.

When it comes to long-lasting revenue increases, bringing in neutral viewers can be as important for growing a tournament as the swell of interest that will naturally come from the countries that teams compete.

As a tournament, it was entertaining from start to finish. There was not a single scoreless draw across the 31 matches as Women's Euro 2025 broke the record for the most goals scored (106) in the tournament's history. That level of excitement will undoubtedly help boost the audience in the future.

Sustainability

According to UEFA, 86% of fans used sustainable transport methods (public transport, walking and biking) to attend the matches—66% used public transit, which was included for free with every match ticket.

Before the start of the tournament, UEFA invested in and researched how travel by train and bus could be prioritized for all site visits. UEFA and Swiss broadcast partners used no air travel for the entire tournament either.

Sustainability has been a key component of Women's Euro 2025. Switzerland thrived as somewhere interconnected, while looking to a future where soccer can help reduce waste and emissions. If Women's Euro 2025 set the standard, then the 2029 edition has a lot to live up to.


This article was originally published on www.si.com as Women's Euro 2025 Was Bigger Than Ever, Paving the Way for a Bright Future.

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