Books : “L’Argent du football Vol. 3 : Le foot féminin” by Luc Arrondel

In his latest book written with Richard Duhautois, Luc Arrondel looks at the economics of women’s soccer.

Published on 07/21/2023 01:00

L’Argent du football Vol. 3 : Le foot féminin

Find the books’ dedicated page on the Éditions rue d’Ulm, Cepremap website.

Summary

The story goes that a legendary women’s match between the Dick, Kerr Ladies and St. Helen’s Ladies Munitionnettes (named after the workers who made the ammunition) in 1920 on Boxing Day in Liverpool attracted 53,000 spectators. A century later, in London on 31 July 2022, nearly 90,000 fans attended the Women’s Euro final between England and Germany. But the secular history of women and football has been far from a long, quiet river even if women’s football appeared at the beginning of the game in the late nineteenth century.

Until the mid-1960s, women were “pushed out” of the field for various reasons around the world. Today, they may be taking their revenge. Women’s football is the subject of many interests, not only sporting but also ideological, political and economic… The game FIFA even included the English and French women’s championships in its latest version of 2023!

Compared to its male counterpart, women’s football is still a very small “business” and the gender pay gap between footballers in national teams and international selections is considerable. The aim of this book is to provide readers with analytical tools to better understand the economics of women’s football.