UEFA, the governing body of European soccer, launched a YouTube channel as part of UEFA’s #WePlayStrong campaign dedicated to growing girls’ and women’s soccer across its 55 member associations. UEFA announced that several top players in women’s soccer will help create content for the new channel.
Juventus defender Petronella Ekroth and Shanice Van de Sanden of Olympique Lyonnais have been added to UEFA’s roster of players creating original content for the WePlayStrong YouTube channel. They will join Lisa Evans (Arsenal), Eunice Beckmann (Madrid), Laura Feiersinger (FFC Frankfurt), and Sarah Zadrazil (Turbine Potsdam), whom all provided content to the #WePlayStrong pilot vlog series that generated nearly six million views on YouTube last year. UEFA also announced that world champion freestyle soccer player Liv Cooke will create content for the new video channel.
“I loved watching the players last season and I’m excited to see what I can bring to the #WePlayStrong channel this time around,” Ekroth said in a press release. “For me, it’s important to show people that professional footballers do have normal lives in addition to working hard on the pitch. I can’t wait to get started and share my experiences of moving to Juventus—especially as I’m currently trying to master a new language. I hope people enjoy it and are also inspired to perhaps start their own journey through football.”
Content on the channel will focus on themes such as daily insights into players’ routines, funny challenges, beauty and style content, and health and fitness advice, according to UEFA’s press release. Players will share their own soccer experiences to hopefully encourage women across Europe to participate in soccer. Since UEFA launched its #WePlayStrong campaign in 2017, fan engagement has substantially increased across UEFA’s social media platforms, according to Guy-Laurent Epstein, director of marketing at UEFA.
“Our social media engagement has doubled since the first year of our campaign, and we want to continue to produce content which is entertaining, aspirational and relatable. “In a world where YouTube plays a huge role in the life of girls and women, we’re proud to have added three more inspiring women footballers to our channel, and we’re looking forward to sharing their professional and personal journeys online.”
SportTechie Takeaway
UEFA’s new women-focused YouTube channel comes one month after Visa signed a seven-year landmark deal to become the first-ever specific sponsor of UEFA women’s soccer. This past September, UEFA said it was developing an OTT streaming platform intended to boost women’s soccer with complimentary coverage. Between the new #WePlayStrong YouTube channel and plans for a women’s soccer-centric streaming platform, UEFA clearly believes that increasing its niche video content production is a way to generate more interest and engagement from fans.