System1: Women's Football Ads Score Huge Summer Success

Aug. 12, 2025

The victorious Lionesses’ on-pitch success has been replicated across adland this summer, with UEFA Women’s Euro creatives responsible for seven of this year’s top summer sports ads according to System1, The Creative Effectiveness Platform.

While UEFA Women’s Euro 2025 creatives dominate the list of top-performing ads, other successful creatives centred on Wimbledon, The French Open, and the FIFA Club World Cup. Brands included in the top ten commercials include Axa, Lidl, and old favourite Walkers, which is known for its football-centric advertising campaigns.

The top-performing ads from the summer of sport include:

• Axa, Keep on Kicking (UEFA Women’s Euro) – 4.5-Stars
• ITV, Women’s Euro Trailer (UEFA Women’s Euro) – 4.3-Stars
• Walkers, Two footballers walk into a bar #NoWalkersNoGame (UEFA Women’s Euro) – 4.2-Stars
• Lidl, Never Stop Growing (UEFA Women’s Euro) – 4.1-Stars
• BBC, Names Will Be Made (UEFA Women’s Euro) – 3.9-Stars
• Budweiser, Budweiser is official beer of the FIFA Club World Cup™ (FIFA Club World Cup) – 3.7-Stars
• Sure, Lucy Bronze (UEFA Women’s Euro) – 3.6-Stars
• Google, Proud Partner of the England Teams (UEFA Women’s Euro) – 3.6-Stars
• Heinz, Lost in Love (Wimbledon) – 3.4-Stars
• Stella Artois, The Perfect Serve (The French Open) – 3.4-Stars

The ranking is based on System1’s Test Your Ad platform Star Rating, which predicts long-term brand growth and is calculated by measuring emotional response to each ad. Ads that make people feel intense, positive emotions like happiness and surprise score high on the scale. The average score for adverts in the UK is 2.5-Stars.

The success of the UEFA Women’s Euro ads follows exponential growth in the popularity of women’s football among the British public. With 12.2 million live viewers, this year’s Women’s UEFA Euro final was the most watched TV moment of 2025 in the UK.

The number of top performing adverts centred on the UEFA Women’s Euro indicates that brands are investing in and embracing this positive cultural shift.

Jon Evans, Chief Customer Officer at System1 said:

"Major sporting events bring out some of the most inspiring and entertaining ads, with the very best campaigns not only delighting sports fans but also winning over the general public. One of the factors behind the success of these adverts is their use of celebrity personalities, who fit in as an authentic part of the story. Uplifting storylines also help to boost emotional impact, particularly when accompanied by right-brain features like melodic music, characters with agency and more. What is particularly interesting this year is the success of ads around women’s football. Advertisers recognise that women’s football has come to hold a growing place in the nation’s heart and therefore has the power to produce a huge emotional response with audiences."