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Soccer leads women’s sports into bidding wars, AI driven by the market, an Olympics in front of crowds and opportunities for the neurodiverse – all trends to spot in the new year, predicts Adrian Pennington.
The 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup final in August attracted record viewing figures pretty much everywhere, underlining a breakthrough year for women’s sport.
Spain defeated England 1-0 in the final in Sydney, with a record 12 million viewers watching in the UK on BBC One (higher than the men’s Wimbledon final last July which peaked at 11.3 million).
In Spain, 5.6 million watched the final, and it peaked at 7.4 million viewers, with data published by Barlovento Comunicacion saying that 56.2% of the Spanish television audience were male.
The tournament contributed to an...
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