We explain how Portugal became home to some of the best leagues in Europe in both men’s and women’s football
In men’s football, Portugal boasts one of the best players in the world (Cristiano Ronaldo), one of the most influential coaches (José Mourinho) and one of the most famous agents (Jorge Mendes). Women’s football in the country is still catching up with men’s, but is on its way to full maturity.
The Portuguese women’s league (now called Campeonato Nacional Feminino) has been in existence since 1985. Boavista (11 championship titles) and 1º Dezembro (12) dominated the early years, before the traditionally powerful teams of Benfica and Sporting became forces to be reckoned with seven years ago.
Sporting revived its women’s team in the 2016/17 season after a 21-year absence and immediately won the title and cup, while Benfica only created a team at the end of 2017 and has now won the last three titles in a row. The country’s other major team, Porto, set up its women’s team last year, duly winning the third division. It is highly likely the Dragons will be promoted again this coming season which will substantially increase the competitiveness of the national league going forward.
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Now that the appetite for women’s football is growing worldwide, Portugal has finally begun to make a name for itself in major tournaments. From Benfica’s continued presence in the group stages of the UEFA Women’s Champions League to the national team’s debut at Euro 2017 and then at the 2023 World Cup, it is clear that Portuguese football is on the rise.
So what can women’s football learn from the success of the men? And how can men’s football continue to grow while also receiving huge sums from the transfers of its best players? Former scout and CEO Thor-Christian Carlsen and ESPN women’s football expert Sophie Lawson assess what makes Portugal so special.
Internal growth
The growth in popularity of Portuguese men’s football can certainly be seen in the healthy increase in attendance. Last season, the “big three” — Benfica, Porto, and Sporting (which account for approximately 70% of total attendance) — recorded the best cumulative average attendance in history: 46,591 spectators per home game, compared to 45,047 in the last “pre-pandemic” season (2018/19) and 33,053 ten years ago (2012/13).
Another illustration of the growing interest in Portuguese football domestically is that Benfica has completely sold out all season tickets (45,000, which is 70% of the capacity of its Estádio da Luz stadium) for the last two seasons.
Although the Portuguese league still lags far behind the championships of more populous countries such as Italy’s Serie A (€997 million) and France’s Ligue 1 (€582 million) when it comes to domestic broadcasting rights, the current deal runs until 2027 and is worth €192 million for this season.
However, this discrepancy with European competitors explains why Portuguese clubs have to go beyond selling media rights to remain competitive in Europe.
And since the revenue generated from ticket sales, merchandise, media rights, or sponsorship deals in a country with a population of 10 million can only yield so much, you don’t have to look too deeply into the club’s balance sheets to understand where they have found their competitive advantage: over the past decade, the five largest Portuguese clubs (Benfica, Porto, Sporting, as well as Braga and Vitória Guimarães) have made a net profit of almost €1.8 billion from transfers.
The women’s league is now broadcast domestically on the Portuguese Football Federation’s own channel, and the federation’s more active involvement has played a key role in securing better conditions for players, although poor payment structures and low prize money remain a stumbling block.
