Bex Smith, a former New Zealand international and chief executive of Crux Football, argues that European women’s football is not being held back by a lack of public interest or economic potential, but by ownership structures that continue to place it behind men’s teams. “For me, it’s not the fact that women’s football doesn’t work or it’s not popular enough, because we’ve seen plenty of examples where it is when dedicated resources are put towards it,” the former Fédération Internationale de Football Association -FIFA- Women’s World Cup competitions manager told ‘SportsPro’.
Crux Football was established in 2025 to acquire and independently manage European women’s clubs. The group purchased 100% of Montpellier HSC Féminines before taking a 48% stake in FC Rosengård, the most successful women’s club in Sweden, while the association retained more than 51% of the shares and voting rights. Smith personally interviewed every Montpellier player before completing the first acquisition and targets clubs with suitable facilities, an attractive location, a recognisable identity and commercial potential. Attendances have increased fivefold, while Smith says Crux could already sell its stakes in both clubs for more than it invested. Rosengård’s ownership structure leaves control in the hands of the association.
Clubs built around women’s football every day
The autonomy proposed by Smith involves more than creating separate corporate entities or changing owners. The objective is to provide each club with executive leadership, a commercial division and a marketing department working exclusively for its players, supporters and sponsors. “They wake up every single day and all they focus on is the women’s football club. I think that’s the key to driving the next stage of growth in the European women’s game,” she said. This differs from teams that share staff, budgets and decision-making processes with organisations whose main source of business remains the men’s side.
Commercial income is particularly important because broadcasting agreements are negotiated in multi-year cycles and remain largely outside individual clubs’ direct control. The Deloitte report cited by ‘SportsPro’ found that commercial revenue accounted for 72% of the income generated by the 15 highest-earning women’s clubs. Crux is preparing a pan-European proposition allowing brands to partner with several clubs across its portfolio. It has also worked with Ted Knutson, the founder of StatsBomb, to develop a women’s football-specific technology platform for identifying, developing and transferring players. Smith says the offers received have already exceeded the group’s initial projections.
Alexia Putellas and Alisha Lehmann choose independent projects
Ownership structures have also begun to influence the decisions of some of the game’s most recognisable players. Alexia Putellas left FC Barcelona after 14 seasons to join London City Lionesses on 8 July, becoming part of the only club in the English top flight without an affiliation to a men’s team. “The club’s ambition and its steadfast commitment to growing as a women-only independent club resonate deeply with me,” said the two-time Ballon d’Or winner. The club, owned by Michele Kang, announced the signing of Mapi León on Monday. The defender also arrived after a long spell at Barcelona, although she linked her decision to the project and the growth of women’s football in England, rather than specifically to its independent structure.
Alisha Lehmann did explicitly identify independence as an important factor in her decision to leave Juventus for FC Como Women, which is owned by Mercury13 and has no corporate relationship with the men’s Como 1907. The Swiss international said projects of this kind allow women’s football to define itself “on its own terms” and demonstrate that there is “another way of doing things”. Jule Brand and Ashley Lawrence have also praised the changes at OL Lyonnes, particularly Kang’s attention to players’ specific needs, although neither has presented separation as a model that should be applied to every club.
Multi-club ownership creates a conflict with UEFA
Kynisca brings together London City Lionesses, OL Lyonnes and Washington Spirit; Mercury13 has clubs including Como Women, Badalona Women and Bristol City; and Bay Collective, backed by Sixth Street, has acquired a majority stake in Sunderland Women. These groups share technology, scouting operations, medical services, sporting expertise and commercial departments. They can also spread risk across several organisations and offer sponsors a presence in multiple markets. Kang has described multi-club ownership as “a necessity, not a luxury” if women’s clubs are to receive the investment their players require.
The expansion of these portfolios conflicts with Article 5 of the Union of European Football Associations -UEFA- Women’s Champions League regulations. The rule prevents two clubs under the influence of the same owner from participating in the competition, a restriction that UEFA’s managing director of women’s football, Nadine Kessler, considers necessary to preserve sporting integrity. Smith accepts that principle but argues that applying rules created for a more commercially mature men’s industry could discourage investment that women’s football still needs. “Our MCO models are totally different from any MCO model on the men’s side,” she said.
Independence without abandoning a club’s name or history
The trend does not mean that every women’s team must break away from its parent club. Arsenal, Chelsea and Barcelona led the latest Women’s Football Money League with respective revenues of €25.6 million, €25.4 million and €22 million, accounting for 46% of the combined income generated by the 15 clubs in the study. Arsenal benefits from the Emirates Stadium, its established fanbase and a shared brand; Barcelona remains an official section of the wider club but has its own sporting structure and commercial agreements; and Chelsea Women was transferred from Chelsea FC Holdings to BlueCo, a corporate separation within the same ownership that does not necessarily amount to operational independence.
OL Lyonnes and Viktoria Berlin offer other approaches. Kang owns 52.9% of the French club, while Eagle Football Group, formerly OL Groupe, retains 47.1% through a separate structure that maintains links with Olympique Lyonnais. In Berlin, the company established to manage the women’s team controls 99% of the entity while retaining its name, history and local connection and bringing together around 250 investors. The question for Barcelona, Arsenal, Chelsea, Lyon and other clubs with leading men’s and women’s teams is whether they should preserve a shared identity while separating budgets, leadership, commercial strategy and sporting decisions. Kara Nortman, co-founder of Angel City and an investor in Viktoria, puts it this way: “There’s always a structural solution. It may not look exactly the same, but it’s about how you create, in this case, total independence but also an independent spirit.”
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