Business of Sport Bex Smith: ‘Women’s Football Should Be BIGGER Than Men’s…And This Is Why’ (Ep92)
What does women’s football need to do to match men’s? Could it be even bigger? What is currently holding it back? Every so often, we have a chat on this show which pushes beyond the surface of sport. The potential, growth and popularity of women’s football has become a feature of macro conversation for years, but finding someone with the credibility and willingness to say it how it is is not easy.
Meet Bex Smith, former New Zealand Captain, treble winner with Wolfsburg, FIFA Women’s World Cup executive, and now club owner. Having founded Crux Football, a MCO Group looking to build collective value across core assets in the women’s game, she is on a mission to be a key part of unlocking the business and performance success she believes is inevitable in the sport if the right structures are in place to support it. With the recent purchase of their first club Montpellier, the vision is about to become reality; it is not just an ability to affect an individual club but the change that needs to happen across the league and broader ecosystem that will determine true success.
If anyone is going to do it, you’re about to meet her. No statements for the sake of it, no positioning without considered justification. It’s the women’s football show we’ve been waiting for.
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
05:38 Why Montpellier Was the Perfect Start
14:04 Building the Right Financial Structure
18:04 The Valuation Problem in Women’s Football
23:35 Why Women’s Football Need To Stop Copying the Men’s Game
34:37 The Challenge of Managing Multiple Clubs
36:47 The Path from Pitch to Boardroom
41:12 Balancing Independence with System Constraints
44:17 What Makes the Women’s Game So Investable
48:20 Would Bex Buy a Club in England Today?
49:14 How Players Drive Engagement and Value
55:41 Why Equal Pay Isn’t the Whole Story
58:22 Managing the Female Athlete’s Body
01:03:53 Quick-Fire Round
On today’s show we discuss:
Rebuilding the Foundations of Women’s Football:
Why the European women’s game “doesn’t work” under its current structure
Why independence from men’s clubs is essential for real sustainability.
How governance, league rules, and commercial structures need to evolve to match the women’s game’s unique audience and values.
Why Bex believes women’s football can and should be bigger than the men’s game.
Building Crux Football & Buying Montpellier:
Inside the acquisition process of Montpellier and what made it the perfect first club.
Why the French league is becoming one of Europe’s most investable women’s football markets.
The operational blueprint behind Crux Football’s multi-club model.
The Power of Storytelling & Icons:
Why visibility and narrative are key to driving fandom and revenue.
How the rise of icons like Lucy Bronze, Chloe Kelly, and Megan Rapinoe has reshaped global perceptions of women’s football.
How Crux Football plans to use storytelling, content, and player-led media to grow audience and commercial value
Athlete Welfare, Data & Performance:
How to build medical, technical, and performance systems designed for women, not men.
Why data, analytics, and research are crucial to reducing ACL injuries and improving long-term player development.
How Crux Football’s performance infrastructure and recruitment strategy will help close the gap in player care and analytics
A huge thank you to our amazing partners on the show:
David
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Stryde
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