Nikki Doucet and Maria Raga on the bold mission to build the world’s most distinctive women’s football league
Nikki Doucet, former Nike executive, and Maria Raga, ex-Depop CEO, are trailblazing figures shaping the future of women’s football. In this conversation, they outline their vision for the women's game, drawing on their deep experience in business and sports. As CEO of a new independent company, Nikki is committed to transforming women’s football into a competitive, entertaining brand, while Maria's insights from scaling Depop add valuable context to the sport's rapid growth. Together, they discuss strategy, execution, and the challenges of scaling women’s football on a global stage.
The Lowdown:
Scaling on Purpose: Women’s football is ready to scale by building a distinct, competitive, and entertaining brand.
Focus on Football 24/7: New independent company is fully focused on growing the women’s professional game.
Changing Perceptions: Shifting how society views women’s football is key to its commercial success.
Audience Understanding: Insights from Depop show the power of deeply knowing your audience—a model for growing the fanbase in women’s football.
Younger Fans Drive Growth: Data shows younger audiences (17–30) are consuming more women’s football, with significant engagement on platforms like YouTube.
Overcoming Skepticism: Both Nikki and Maria highlight the challenges of disrupting industries and overcoming initial doubt.
"We wake up every day thinking about women’s football.”
Nikki emphasized the game-changing impact of having an independent company solely focused on women's football. The alignment of key stakeholders on a shared vision is what has allowed them to make strides toward building a globally competitive league.
Independence: This new company is fully dedicated to growing the women’s professional game in the UK.
Shared Purpose: Despite different viewpoints on league structures, everyone is united by the same mission: creating the best women’s football competition worldwide.
Vision: The goal is to leverage women’s football to inspire a more equitable society and transform the sport.
"It’s the first time there’s been an independent company like this, and that’s huge." — Nikki Doucet
“Women’s football is a product-market fit, ready to scale.”
Maria sees women’s football as being perfectly positioned for growth, drawing parallels to her time scaling Depop. The game has a strong product-market fit and is primed for expansion, with plenty of demand from fans.
Growth Potential: Maria joined because of women’s football’s ready-to-scale position and the opportunity to make a societal impact through sports.
Scalability: Like Depop, the women’s game is in a "scale-up" phase, where the challenge is leveraging existing success and pushing it further.
Audience Understanding: Maria’s experience with Depop highlights the importance of knowing your audience deeply—this applies directly to women’s football’s growth strategy.
“Women’s football today is where Depop was: ready to explode.” — Maria Raga
“Distinctive, competitive, entertaining.”
Nikki outlined how their strategic approach to growing women’s football centers around creating a unique, engaging product. The three pillars of the strategy focus on making the game stand out, ensuring top-level competition, and keeping fans entertained.
Distinctive: Women’s football needs to stand apart from men’s football, offering fans a fresh, unique experience.
Competitive: The league must deliver exciting, high-stakes games with top athletes, managers, and referees to capture fan interest.
Entertaining: Storytelling is key. With YouTube’s 115,000 subscribers for the Women’s Super League, the platform has become an essential tool for reaching younger audiences.
"We need to build a brand of football that’s distinct from men’s football." — Nikki Doucet
“Changing perceptions will drive value.”
Nikki stressed the need to reshape societal perceptions of women’s football. Creating equitable opportunities and changing the narrative around the sport will drive its commercial value.
Perception: Women’s football is often seen as secondary to men’s, and this perception needs to shift to create new value.
Bias: The term "football" is still strongly associated with men’s sport, and breaking this bias is essential to promote women’s football.
Revenue Potential: Using Nike’s experience with women-specific gear as an example, Nikki emphasized that changing perceptions and building belief in the product can create lucrative new markets.
"Perception shapes value. We need to shift how society sees women’s football." — Nikki Doucet
“We’re seeing global reach, and the fanbase is young.”
The growth of women’s football has been driven largely by a younger, global audience. Platforms like YouTube have played a major role in expanding visibility, and attendance numbers reflect this organic growth.
Young Demographic: The audience is primarily aged 17-30, and they are consuming women’s football content on platforms like YouTube, watching for an average of 24 minutes per match.
Global Reach: Games like Brighton's attract viewers worldwide, with international fan engagement, such as live chats in Japanese during matches.
Attendance Growth: Women’s Super League attendance is up 12%, while Championship attendance has grown by 75%, all driven by organic interest rather than major marketing budgets.
"It’s a younger demographic. They’re watching on YouTube TV—not on mobile devices—and it’s global." — Nikki Doucet
Quickfire
What’s the last game you attended?
Nikki: London City Lionesses vs. Charlton
Maria: Liverpool vs. Leicester
Favorite player?
Nikki: Christine Sinclair, Canada’s goal-scoring icon.
Maria: Spanish player Mati, but in the WSL, Guru Reiten.
Favorite kit?
Nikki: Arsenal’s classic hoodie.
Maria: Inter Miami’s pink "Barbie year" kit.
Nikki and Maria’s discussion underscored the exciting, transformative moment women’s football is experiencing. With a focus on innovation, building a unique identity, and understanding the audience, they are both confident that the sport is on the verge of a significant breakthrough.
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