A new international study examining the use of digital technology, data and artificial intelligence in women’s football has found that while clubs are ambitious and increasingly embracing innovation, many remain constrained by limited resources, fragmented systems and underdeveloped fan data infrastructure.
The snapSHOT 2026 report from Ready Sport Global draws on interviews conducted over four months with 27 professional and semi-professional women’s football clubs and two leagues across 16 countries, including Ireland. The research provides one of the most detailed examinations to date of the digital maturity of the women’s game.
The report concludes that women’s football is entering a new phase of growth, with audiences, investment and visibility all increasing, but that many clubs lack the digital and operational systems needed to maximise commercial opportunities and sustain long-term growth.
Among the most striking findings was that 41 per cent of clubs surveyed do not operate a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system and instead manage fan relationships through spreadsheets and manual data exports.
Fan Data
The study identifies fan data as the most underutilised commercial asset in women’s football. While clubs collect information through ticketing, merchandise sales, and social media, that data is often fragmented and rarely used to support sponsorship sales, audience segmentation, or revenue-generation strategies.
“Fan engagement is the biggest growth priority across clubs, regardless of size or market,” the report states, highlighting a widespread desire to convert growing interest in women’s football into regular attendance and stronger commercial relationships.
The challenge is compounded by infrastructure issues. Nearly two-thirds of clubs surveyed rent or share their stadiums, limiting their ability to control the matchday experience, collect first-party fan data and activate sponsors effectively.
The report also reveals a significant gap between the sophistication of performance-related technology and commercial operations. While GPS tracking, player analytics and sports science tools are now commonplace, fan engagement systems and commercial data capabilities remain far less developed.
Artificial intelligence emerged as one of the most rapidly evolving areas within the sport. Eleven clubs specifically referenced using ChatGPT, while five had invested in Microsoft Copilot subscriptions and one in Claude. Two clubs have already begun developing formal AI policies and governance structures.
The report notes that AI adoption is currently driven largely by individual staff members seeking greater efficiency, rather than through organisation-wide strategies. However, there is growing recognition that structured AI adoption could help clubs overcome staffing and resource constraints.
Structural Barriers
One of the report’s key conclusions is that the barriers facing clubs are largely structural rather than cultural. Leadership teams are generally supportive of technology investment, but small staffs, limited budgets and competing priorities make implementation difficult.
Ready Sport Global Founder Lucy Mills believes the next phase of growth in women’s football will depend on clubs’ ability to understand and activate their audiences.
“Across 27 clubs and two leagues in 16 markets, the message is clear,” she writes in the report foreword. “The next phase of women’s football will be built on the ability to understand fans, activate data, use technology responsibly, prove commercial value, and design support structures that reflect the realities of the women’s game.”
The report outlines a four-stage Digital Capability Spectrum, ranging from clubs operating only with basic websites and social media platforms to those using integrated CRM systems, personalised fan journeys, real-time analytics, and AI-enabled workflows. Most clubs currently sit in the middle of that spectrum, having established the foundations but not yet connected their digital assets into a fully functioning commercial engine.
Recommendations are directed at clubs, leagues, sponsors, investors and technology providers, with a consistent theme running throughout: investment in data infrastructure and fan intelligence is now as important as investment in players, facilities and marketing.
For women’s football, the report suggests, the opportunity is not a lack of ambition but the need to build the digital foundations that can transform growing audiences into sustainable commercial success.
Lucy Mills is expected to be one of our guest speakers at the Sport for Business women in Sport Annual Conference, in partnership wity Lidl, later this year. Express your interest in being part of the event below.
The FAI, IRFU, LGFA, Camogie Association, Sport Ireland and Lidl are full members of Sport for Business.
If you would like to be part of the Sport for Business community and see your organisation in our content, on our stages, and in the conversation happening every day around the commercial world of Irish Sport, email us today and let’s see what is possible.
Image Credit: Sport for Business
ABOUT SPORT FOR BUSINESS
Sport for Business is Ireland’s leading platform focused on the commercial, strategic and societal impact of sport. It connects decision-makers across governing bodies, clubs, brands, agencies, and public institutions through high-quality content, events, and insights.
Sport for Business explores how sport drives economic value, participation, inclusion and national identity, and how your story can be part of ours.
Through analysis, storytelling and convening the sector, it helps leaders understand trends, share best practice and make better-informed decisions. It positions sport not just as entertainment but as a vital contributor to Ireland’s social and economic fabric.
Find out more about becoming a member today.
Or sign up for our twice-daily bulletins to get a flavour of the material we cover.
Sign up for our News Bulletins here.
