World Sevens: A tournament that does what it says on the tin but lacks a sprinkling of chaos
Women's football's challenger event provides something different for players but it remains to be seen whether it can win over fans
It’s a sudden death penalty shootout and the Venga Boys’ ‘We like to party’ is being blasted out from the DJ booth.
It’s not Baller League and it’s not Queens or Kings League, this is a new small-sided event that is aiming to shake up the traditional football calendar.
World Sevens Football (W7F) is making its debut around 30 minutes from Lisbon in a small coastal town called Estoril. The three-day tournament is happening days before Arsenal take on Barcelona in the the Uefa Women’s Champions League final at Sporting’s Estádio José Alvalade.
Backed by Justin Fishkin and Gotham and Chelsea minority owner Jennifer Mackesy, W7F is following the trend of the aforementioned “sportainment” small-sided football concepts that have popped up all around the world.
Unlike Baller League, which is tailored towards Gen-A with a focus on YouTubers and influencers, W7F is made up of eight established football clubs: the WSL’s Manchester United and Manchester City, Ajax, Benfica, PSG, Rosengard from Sweden, Roma from Italy and Germany’s Bayern Munich.
Alongside the investors and participating clubs, there is a player council, a who’s who of women’s football legends who are all working and endorsing the tournament, even participating in fan signings. Anita Asante, Tobin Heath, Kelley O’Hara, Caroline Seger, and Laura Georges are also featured on the broadcast as pundits.
World Sevens has all the elements you would expect from a modern day football event: A live DJ, bars, free t-shirts, a hype-woman constantly on the microphone trying to get the small but loud crowd going, and a bit of pyrotechnics.
The teams that have turned up have leant into the fun with some big names showing a more relaxed, creative, and fun side that is rarely seen on the pitch in traditional games.
Bayern Munich whipped out several silly celebrations on matchday two with a bowling set up, dab, and the worm all on show. Manchester United had fun with their walk-ons, coordinating dance moves.
Whilst Manchester City’s Brazilian winger Kerolin, who is the perfect player for this more freestyle format, even joked about how excited she was about the $5 million prize pot, gesturing in her post-match interview with DAZN that she was all about the “money”.
The prize money for each team will be split 60/40, with the clubs taking the larger chunk and players and staff receiving 40%. However, it’s up to the clubs and the staff groups whether they give up a larger share of the prize money, for example the players can donate some of the funds to club resources or vice versa.
The W7F experience doesn’t lend itself to broadcast just yet, the lack of fans at the stadium translates to a lack of atmosphere on the broadcast. While Baller League and others have whacky rules that lead to chaos, there’s a distinct lack of unpredictability in this format. There needs to be more edge, tension, chaos, and silliness, less tradition and polish.
Like all good events, there are still teething issues. DAZN’s broadcast wasn’t without its technical difficulties; some of the pundits and ambassadors didn’t seem to understand the rules or quite have enough talking points to sustain hours of coverage.
The tournament’s own Google ad also referenced rugby sevens rather than football.
The most exciting moment of day two was a sudden-death penalty shootout between Ajax and Manchester City. It was the first penalty shootout of the tournament, and with a DJ soundtrack that included the Jaws theme song, it felt like World Sevens had well and truly arrived. Like all good penalty shootouts, this one went down to goalkeeper vs. goalkeeper, before circling back around to the first penalty takers.
The reviews from those taking part are overwhelmingly positive. City’s Jess Park and United’s Gabby George both spoke about the seven-a-side format making them feel like “kids” again and providing an opportunity to get creative.
City interim boss Nick Cushing suggested kick-ins and faster resets to try and up the ante. I think anything that moves it further away from traditional, structured football play is a positive.
So much of the narrative around the World Sevens has been about the prize pot and what it offers players, some of whom don’t earn the sort of eye-watering salaries we see at top WSL clubs. The narrative of this tournament has been very player-led, however, the storytelling is greatly missing. Empowering players and handing out bonuses creates money in the game, but without storytelling around it, there’s no reason to care or be pulled into this spectacle.
There’s not enough to make fans care about this event, even if Manchester United are literally doing cartwheels to make it as entertaining as possible.
United’s head coach Marc Skinner referenced the need to build fan engagement in World Sevens but admitted that it will come with time. It’s the first year of existence, and the atmosphere around it does feel like a trial.
In Friday’s semi-finals, City will take on United in the first World Sevens derby, and Bayern Munich will face PSG. The final is taking place under the lights in Estoril that same evening.
As the event continues to evolve, so will the gimmicks and drama. It’s certainly not bad for a first go.
I think its cracking, and compared to some of the FA Player shenanigans, the production is good!
From a viewer perspective it seems pretty slick and not far off being the full package, I've certainly enjoyed watching it, seeing the different approaches, skills of the players and the tactics evolve.
I really hope it takes off, and is an 'additive' as set out by Adrian Jacob. I liked the community coaching bits I saw Anita and the team doing, for those girls that will be an amazing memory.
The real thing to take note of is my 11yo football mad daughter LOVES it, she got to training on Wednesday night and asked if they could 'do 7's' for their matches....
I was a bit sceptical when the tournament was announced but I’ve enjoyed watching it - especially seeing how much fun many players are having. It seems a bit like a warm weather training camp slash holiday plus prize money. The organisers seem to have got the player side right - agree the fan side (especially to have more present) could do with work.