Integrated women's football teams can attract larger stadium crowds

Research Question Women's sports have seen a trend of diversification recently, with women's and men's teams merging to form integrated football clubs. While such integrated clubs (e.g. Paris Saint-Germain), in particular, have determined the media headlines with record attendances, governing bodies have begun drafting policies to accelerate such strategic integrations. However, empirical evidence on whether integrated women's football teams (which may benefit from brand spillover effects, among other things) attract larger crowds to their stadiums is limited at best. Naturally, this raises the question of whether being an integrated football club matters for women's football stadium attendance demand.