National player Lena Lattwein believes that fans will come back to women’s football games – once they have been there.
“I don’t think it’s even because people aren’t interested in us. I think it’s because they’ve never really had contact,” said the 22-year-old midfielder from champion VfL Wolfsburg to the German press Agency.
In the Bundesliga, the average number of visitors is still less than 1,000. The recent test match of the DFB selection against Switzerland (7-0) in Erfurt saw just under 6,000. “When you have new spectators in the stadium, I’ve rarely heard that they didn’t come back,” said Lattwein about her experiences. “Most of the time it was the other way around: that they liked it so much because we’re just more approachable.”
In the opinion of the former Hoffenheim resident, this is “a huge point that makes us attractive and sets us apart a little from the men – in a nice way: more familiar, more approachable, maybe a little more likeable, more down-to-earth.” The footballers would never “lose our authenticity or our closeness, even if there is more money flowing”.
Lattwein is part of the squad for the German national team for the European Championship in England, which will play its opening game against Denmark on Friday (9 p.m. CEST/ZDF and DAZN). “I also think that many viewers are now saying that men’s football is no longer so natural and understandable, precisely because there is so much money flowing into it,” she continued.