Brands & Agencies, Broadcasters & Connected TV, Federations & Rights Holders, Publishers

A Comprehensive Guide to Opta’s Impact on 2025 UEFA Women’s EURO Coverage

By: Erin Lent

The 2025 UEFA Women’s EURO delivered unforgettable drama, from last-minute winners to breakout stars and record-breaking achievements. Behind those moments was a layer of insight powered by data – helping broadcasters, sponsors, federations and publishers bring added depth and clarity to their coverage by uncovering the magic in the detail of the games.

Throughout the tournament, Stats Perform’s people, Opta data and AI-enhanced tools were integral to media coverage for producers, commentators, presenters, journalists and creative teams alike.

Here’s a comprehensive guide to how we helped shape narratives, celebrate achievements and support real-time storytelling across formats and platforms – including live TV and match previews to sponsorable social posts and digital-out-of-home campaigns.

Supporting Broadcast & Editorial Coverage

BBC – Contextualising the Tournament with Commentary and Analysis

Media giant the BBC relied heavily on Opta data and tools throughout the tournament to bring clarity and context to their broadcast and digital coverage.

Stats and insights from Opta pre-match fact packs, Opta Live and our research helpdesk were heard in the TV match commentary and integrated into articles on the BBC Sport website.

In one standout example, football commentator Jonathan Pearce referenced Opta data showing Italy’s Cristina Girelli had scored the most headed goals across Europe’s top five women’s leagues – an insight that added immediate context to her winning goal against Norway.

In its pre-tournament build-up, BBC Sport featured the Opta Supercomputer’s predictions calling for an England v Spain final – a scenario that ultimately came true.

TNT Sports & ESPN – Revealing the ‘Stat of the Tournament’

One of the many stats from our Opta Data Insights team to go viral during the tournament was described by TNT Sports’ as their ‘Stat of the Tournament’ and earned callouts by ESPN amongst other top-tier media.

The stat generated attention and impact by revealing that tournament winners England had led for a total of just 4 minutes and 52 seconds during the knockout stages.

Fans and pundits knew that England had mastered the art of scoring late, but contextualizing it objectively with numbers to provide meaning is a great example of the story leading the data, and of the way that such insights resonate so strongly in sport.

Our own @OptaJoe on X drew over 600,000 views and 5,000 likes for the stat, further demonstrating the appetite for sharp, story-driven insights.

Yle – Bringing In-Depth Tactical Coverage to Fans in Finland

Finnish broadcaster Yle showed a strong appetite to employ Opta Facts, data visualisations and helpdesk support during their outstanding coverage of the tournament. One segment used Opta data to highlight Vicky López’s standout performance in Spain’s match against Portugal, with the inclusion of heat maps and data-led analysis that made the impact of her play easy to understand at a glance.

Yahoo Sports, GiveMeSport and Many Others – Predicting Tournament Outcomes with the Opta Supercomputer

Ahead of the tournament, apps and publishers like Yahoo Sports, powered by OneFootball, and GiveMeSport used Opta Supercomputer projections to spotlight potential favourites – a strong example of how predictive modelling is becoming a mainstay in pre-tournament coverage across digital media platforms.

That’s because the Supercomputer provides an objective, expert view of what the statistics + AI say, as opposed to opinion alone. This fuels debate amongst fans and pundits alike, driving comments on articles and conversations on Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp and Reddit.

The supercomputer predicted England or Spain as the most likely winners – and both teams duly made the final.

NRC – Spotlighting the Evolution of Women’s Football

The Dutch daily morning newspaper used Opta data to explore the evolution of women’s football – highlighting how the sport has become more technically advanced with a rise in the amount of dribbles and higher quality shots, pressure – through a lower PPDA – has become more prevalent, and teams have become more tactically flexible. The in-depth feature, which also discusses the increased Dutch presence across Europe’s top leagues, ran both online and in print.

Empowering Federations & Teams

England Women’s National Team & The FA – Live Streaming Lionesses’ Press Conferences

Stats Perform’s Opta Content Agency supported the FA with full press conference production throughout the tournament, delivering video coverage from all of the Lionesses’ media appearances – streamed live across their social media channels. This agreement – which also covers squad announcements and Media Days – allowed the FA to distribute real-time press conference coverage, giving fans direct access to unedited insights from the defending Women’s EURO champions’ players and staff, bringing them closer than ever to the team.

French Women’s National Team – Producing Viral Instagram Content for Les Bleues

Ahead of the knockout stages, the French Women’s National Team shared a video shot by the Opta Content Agency on Instagram to give fans a glimpse into the team’s dynamic off the field and the personalities driving Les Bleues’ tournament run. The reel quickly went viral, amassing over 5.7 million views, 320,000+ likes and 1,400+ comments, showcasing the value of tournament-driven video storytelling to grow team visibility and engagement.

Powering Brands & Creative Campaigns

Opta x PwC x N=5 – Turning Opta Data into Cross-Media Campaigns

Dutch creative strategic agency N=5 utilised Opta data and insights in a campaign for PwC Netherlands called “Stats for Equality” to amplify the professional services firm’s sponsorship of the Dutch team, and their work to help grow women’s football.

During the tournament, Opta Facts were used in PwC’s out-of-home billboards, digital ads and across Instagram to celebrate unsung performances and connect PwC authentically to the Oranje Lionesses.

Despite the Netherlands’ early exit, data-led stories still helped amplify and contextualise the team’s performances and celebrate players like Vivianne Miedema, who scored her 100th international goal during the tournament.

Delivering Content Tools & Scalable Visuals

Opta Graphics – Enabling Fast, Flexible Visuals Creation for Teams and Media

OptaAI Studio’s graphics creation platform Opta Graphics, was used extensively by teams and publishers during the tournament to create scroll-stopping, data-driven branded visuals at scale.

Clients including BBC Sport, The Sun and the Lionesses were able to quickly produce eye-catching content such as heat maps and data-led performance breakdowns – all powered by the universal language of sport: Opta.

These visuals played a key role in making in-game and post-match insights and analysis more accessible and engaging for fans across platforms, whilst providing valuable sponsor inventory for the teams.

Opta Content Agency – Distributing Multilingual Video at Scale

The Opta Content Agency was on the ground in Switzerland, providing real-time, multilingual video support to global publishers.

From player spotlights to tactical highlights and post-match coverage, the team produced tailored content for outlets including beIN Sports, Diario AS, Sport1, MSN and OneFootball.

Their presence throughout all stages of the tournament helped ensure timely, high-quality storytelling that met the needs of international audiences across multiple formats and time zones.

Engaging Global Audiences on Social

Opta Owned Social – Fuelling Engagement Across Markets

Across Opta’s various social media channels – including @OptaJoe, @OptaJose and @OptaFranz on X – our Data Insights team shared a stead cadence of key tournament stats, data visuals and advanced insights. During the tournament, Opta social content generated:

6.4+ million views

45,000+ interactions

And many standout moments using Opta Vision-powered visual analytics

The reach and engagement of these posts reflected the growing demand for in-depth, data-informed narratives within the women’s game and reflects Opta’s commitment to providing the same breadth of coverage and elite storytelling as major men’s football tournaments.

Looking Ahead

The 2025 UEFA Women’s EURO wasn’t just another major tournament – it was a clear indicator of how far women’s football coverage has come. The tournament broke spectator records and smashed broadcasting records in the UK and the U.S. and with more teams, fans, broadcasters and publishers demanding timely, engaging content, Opta and Stats Perform are proud to deliver the tools, data and storytelling expertise to help them fuel the growth momentum.

From pre-tournament projections to real-time data delivery and post-match exclusives, this tournament demonstrated the powerful role data and technology now play in elevating fan and sponsor experiences – and reinforced our commitment to helping partners across the sports ecosystem enrich coverage, deepen engagement and rise to the growing expectations of women’s football audiences worldwide.