Speakers
Description
Women’s football (WF) is becoming increasingly professionalised across the globe. This process has appeared to be more successful in a few countries such as England and the US, but in the majority of the world it has not got the momentum yet. Ireland, the context of this study, is an example of a country that has been subject to local and international pressures to become more professionalised. These pressures stem from various forces that are influenced by the different logics pursued by the stakeholders of the game. It is crucial to understand these drivers, i.e. logics, in the quest for professionalisation of WF. It is these logics that determine the institutional works of different stakeholders involved in the professionalisation process. Understanding these logics could pave the path to successfully institutionalise the professionalism in WF. There is a lack of research that focuses specifically on the main drivers of professionalisation in WF. In response to this gap in the field, and drawing on Institutional Logic theory, we conducted 44 semi-structured interviews with individuals from multiple stakeholder groups in Irish WF, including fans, administration, players and coaches, media, and business sector. Our findings show that the increased professionalisation of the game is something that the majority of stakeholders are striving towards; such institutional logics include equality, commercialisation, and improving the sporting product. A summary of the process, findings and some implications for different stakeholders will be presented at the conference.
