As Mayo prepare for league opener, spotlight is shone on need for visibility of women’s sport

Lidl Ireland and the Ladies Gaelic Football Association (LGFA) have unveiled striking new research spotlighting the importance of developing and elevating Irish female sporting role models for the positive impact they can have on individuals, society and their sport.

It comes as Mayo and county teams around the country prepare for the 2025 Lidl National Football League season.

Continuing the momentum of Lidl and LGFA’s hard-hitting ‘Get Behind the Fight’ campaign, new research conducted by Red C in November 2024 revealed the need for more high-profile female players in sport as 42% of the Irish public said they would be more likely to attend a women’s sporting event in person if someone well-known was playing.

However, the challenge of player visibility and audience connection remains, with 43% believing that not knowing anyone who is playing is a barrier to attending a female sports event – an increase from 33% of respondents surveyed in Lidl’s 2023 research study, illustrating the growing importance of raising the profile of female athletes to attract fans.

Thinking about the challenges facing LGFA inter-county players specifically in elevating their public profiles, a quarter of current players (24%) surveyed say that gender issues and cultural or societal norms – such as prioritising male sport over female sport – is the most significant barrier.

This is reflected in the public’s behaviour and attitudes towards female sport. When asked about the reasons for not attending women’s sporting events, the majority of the public say they still prefer to go to men’s sporting events (51%) whilst almost a quarter (23%) believe the women’s game isn’t as important as the men’s.

Recognising this status quo, however, the Irish public believe that challenging societal norms is crucial in levelling the playing field for women, both on and off the pitch. Two-thirds of the Irish public (66%) said that having female sporting role models encourages equality, 56% say they encourage diversity and inclusion in society and over half (56%) say it contributes to smashing gender inequality within sport specifically.

When thinking about the importance of sporting role models, over half of Irish adults (57%) say they had one growing up, with Sonia O’Sullivan being the most popular hero, inspiring almost one in 10 respondents.

Recognising the importance of role models within LGFA itself, 100% of inter-county players agree that having LGFA role models is important, with over half (58%) believing they can help raise the profile of the sport – but 43% of players do not currently consider themselves to be role models.

Growing up, 37% of LGFA inter-county players surveyed said they looked to male sports stars as their role models, but just 2% of players say they currently have a male sports role model now that they are older, highlighting the changing needs for women in sport and the importance of inspirational female athletes throughout a player’s career.

As parents, men are more likely than women to believe that having a female sporting role model is important for their sons (54% men, 46% women) and daughters (61% men, 58% women) growing up.

Parents' understanding of the impact on children of Irish female sporting role models saw a broad spectrum of benefits, from encouraging a healthy lifestyle for kids (57%), positive mental health (48%) and positive body image (46%) to essential life skills such as instilling teamwork (49%), good work ethic (44%) and leadership skills (37%). Female sporting role models were also deemed to promote equality (55%) and representation within their community (34%).

SUCCESSFUL YEAR

Focusing on the emotional connection with players that drives fans and spectators, this year’s research shows the significant impact that a successful year for visibility of women’s sport has had in shifting public opinion on support for female athletes.

Three-quarters of the Irish public (75%) were able to name an Irish female sports star unprompted. Of this, Katie Taylor remained top of the list and was named by more than half of respondents (57%), whilst a fifth of respondents named Kellie Harrington in second place, growing from just 4% awareness last year to 20% following her stellar gold medal win at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Other notable boosts in public profiles included Katie McCabe (growing from 10% awareness to 17% this year) and Rhasidat Adeleke (with a significant boost from just 1% to 12% this year), whilst Sonia O’Sullivan, Leona Maguire, Rachel Blackmore, Cora Staunton and Anna Geary all completed the public’s line-up.

After an incredible year for Irish women’s sport, which saw the Irish public watch a range of different female sporting events – including the Paris 2024 Olympics athletics (47%), boxing (43%) and swimming (39%) events, women’s international (30%) amd League of Ireland soccer (13%), ladies’ Gaelic football national leagues and championships (22%), and the Irish Open (11%) and Solheim Cup (9%) in golf – one in four (24%) people said they are more interested in female sport now than they were at the same time point last year.

Commenting on the findings from the player study, LGFA Dublin All-Star Carla Rowe said: “When young athletes see women succeeding in sport, it not only boosts their confidence but also creates a ripple effect in society, promoting gender equality. The visibility of female players is fundamental to changing the narrative around women’s sports, breaking down barriers, and encouraging more girls to participate.

“Investing in female athletes benefits not only the sports community, but it fosters a wider cultural shift toward equality, empowerment and visibility. The research shows that there are still challenges around player visibility and audience connections which, collectively, we need to strive to improve.”

The 2025 Lidl National Football League season gets underway this weekend (January 18/19) with four fixtures across Division 4, while action across Divisions 1 to 3 gets underway from January 25, when Mayo make the trip to the capital to face Dublin.

The leagues conclude across the weekend of the April 12/13, with the Divisions 1 and 2 finals taking place in Croke Park on Saturday, April 12, and broadcast live by TG4. The Divisions 3 and 4 finals will take place on Sunday, April 13.

The LGFA and TG4 have confirmed live coverage of 13 fixtures from the 2025 Lidl National League via linear TV and the Spórt TG4 YouTube page, commencing with the Kerry-Armagh clash from Austin Stack Park, Tralee, on Saturday, January 25. Peil na mBan Beo will be available to audiences globally on the TG4 Player at www.tg4.ie/beo and on the TG4 Mobile and Smart TV app.

Tickets to attend the group fixtures of the 2025 Lidl National Football League matches are available via the host county boards and ticket information will be available on www.ladiesgaelic.ie.