Sports Direct Is on a Mission to Equalise Sport for All in COPA90's Women’s Euros Campaign

Sports Direct has launched a multi-million pound TV, OOH, in-store, content, media and influencer campaign for the Women’s EUROs in their mission to equalise sport for all. Working in partnership with football media company COPA90, the campaign aims to harness the energy of EURO 22 to drive the visibility of players, coaches and women in football, unleashing a new generation of female ballers. 

Sports Direct commissioned COPA90 to conduct in-depth interviews with fans, grassroots teams, elite players and managers alike to evaluate the women’s football landscape from the bottom up. This identified a unifying truth; the superstar players are not just playing for a trophy, they are playing for the legacy of the game. And it was evident there was an insatiable passion for the women’s game that mainstream culture has yet to recognise or celebrate. 

The number of women and girls playing football has risen 54% to over 3.4m, reinforcing how the women’s game continues to grow. The campaign’s core creative idea subverts the fallacy that ‘Girls Don’t Like Football’, showing and celebrating the passion women in this country have for the beautiful game. The campaign intends to spark an emotive reaction by men and women everywhere, re-establishing football as an inclusive sport for everybody. The campaign demonstrates that in spite of all the barriers, there is a rising tide of women who absolutely love the game, showcasing the next generation of women that football is an option for them. 

“Back in the day, only little boys were allowed to dream of being ballers. In modern Britain it’s the dream of young girls too” said Beckie Stanion, CMO, Fraser Group. “As we have seen, the cycle of momentum around the women’s game is driven by international tournaments, and in the past couple of years every aspect of the game has hit the accelerator. We wanted to create a campaign that used this tournament as a catalyst for a new era of women’s football in the UK.” 

“What flowed naturally from the brief was a campaign that turned this archaic misconception ‘girls don’t like football’ and playfully countering it. Consumers are first met with the tension of this idea which is then flipped on its head, done with a zealous rebuttal in the form of a celebration of the game that delivers a punchline of real truth” said Gavin Rowe, chief creative officer at COPA90. 

The Sports Direct campaign is elevated further through the real faces of the community, including FOREST GREEN ROVERS, KINGSLEY FC, England’s first ever LIONESSES from 1971 and the players today leading the charge for future generations: STINA BLACKSTENIUS, MILLIE BRIGHT, JESS CARTER, LAUREN HEMP, SAM KERR, ELLEN WHITE, ALESSIA RUSSO, NIKITA PARRIS, GEORGIA STANWAY. 

The commercial was directed by Yoni Lappin through Agile Films and the photography was done by Danika Magdelena.The print assets were developed by Jasmin Sehra and Fake Empire to take a bold stance against traditional football advertising, using hand drawn bright and distinctive typography, colours and borders.