With FIFA releasing their best XI of 2020, there was just another upset in women’s football awards. Without having played a match in ten months, Megan Rapinoe said it was ‘surprising’ to find herself between the FA Women’s Super League top goal scorer and Champions League champions.
”The fact that I was selected once again sheds light on the fact that in order to push our game forward we need continued investment in the women’s game to give more female players the opportunity to be seen on TV in their home countries and globally while performing for their club and country,” said Rapinoe.
Ata football has stepped onto the scene this year to ‘elevate the game globally’ through shifting media rights distribution and creating a consumer platform that connects content, players and fans. The new company already acquired notable partnerships with the FA WSL, D1 Arkema and Frauen-Bundesliga. They are putting women’s football on the biggest channels.
This season, there will be 50 FA WSL matches shown live on NBC and atafootball.com in the US, 18 D1 Arkema matches shown on BT Sport, DAZN, ESPN+ and on atafootball.com in the UK, US, Italy and Germany.
The idea of Ata Football came from two roommates who wanted to watch women’s football, but couldn’t find any streaming platforms; a familiar place for many of us. Esmeralda Negron and Hannah Brown put their vast experiences together to launch a new platform with the aim to be the new home of women’s football.
Negron played in D1 Arkema and the Frauen-Bundesliga after she graduated from Princeton University, leaving as one of the most decorated players in its history. After a briefly coaching collegiate football, she eventually found her way to the business side of football where she helped launch the Women’s International Champions Cup; a pre-season tournament featuring a team from the NWSL, D1 Arkema, FA WSL and Liga Iberdrola.
Alongside is co-founder, Hannah Brown, a UK native with vast business media experience from Sky Sports, KPMG, Relevant Sports Group and Formula E. She understands what drives success from a venture, financial and partnership perspective, expertise that is not regularly and widely applied in the women’s football world.
Negron and Brown’s new company is putting emphasis on raising the women’s game globally. They’re putting players, leagues and clubs in front of millions who have never had the chance to experience women’s club football internationally
Though just a streaming site as of now, Ata Football is looking to expand their brand in the new year to provide more in-depth coverage with content such as player features and behind the scenes footage. Women’s football is only growing and hopefully platforms like Ata Football grow with it.