MILAN, Jan 27 (Reuters) - Football has a solid female
fanbase which credit crunch-hit sponsors and advertisers have yet
to tap into, a report said on Tuesday.
The "Women's World of Football" study carried out by oddly-named
consultancy firm SPORT+MARKT said 38 percent of football fans
worldwide are female.
"The times when men ruled the world of football are over,"
SPORT+MARKT Executive Director Hartmut Zastrow said in a
statement.
"New sectors will invest more and more in football. We predict
growing interest from fashion labels, jewellery brands and also
companies from the gardening sector.
"Female football fans worldwide have a strong interest in
fashion and clothing, stronger than women overall, and stronger
than the male fan group. Companies have yet to exploit this
interest."
The study involved more than 20,000 respondents in 21
countries.
Outside Britain, over a third of people interested in the
Premier League are female with Chinese women having a particular
high interest in English football.
The report also said 62 percent of the South African female
population were very interested or interested in football ahead of
the 2010 World Cup finals being held in their country.