# Serie A (women's football)
Serie A Femminile, marketed as Serie A Women, is the top division of women's football in Italy and the country's only women's competition in the professional category. It is organized by the Divisione Serie A Femminile Professionistica on delegation from the [Italian Football Federation](https://www.edgepedia.org/italian-football-federation) (FIGC) and, from the 2025-26 season, is contested by 12 clubs in a single round-robin group.[1](https://www.figc.it/it/serie-a-women/format) • [2](https://files.figc.it/version/c:ZWFiNDI5MDQtMzJhNy00:N2JmZWI4N2YtZDc5Yi00/329-disposizioni-competizioni-serie-a-femminile-prof-e-serie-b-femminile-2025-2026.pdf)
| Key fact | Detail |
| --- | --- |
| Status | Top Italian women's league; the only one in the professional category[1](https://www.figc.it/it/serie-a-women/format) |
| Governance | Divisione Serie A Femminile Professionistica, on delegation from the FIGC[1](https://www.figc.it/it/serie-a-women/format) |
| Format (2025-26) | Single group of 12 clubs playing a double round-robin, home and away, over 22 rounds; 3 points for a win, 1 for a draw[2](https://files.figc.it/version/c:ZWFiNDI5MDQtMzJhNy00:N2JmZWI4N2YtZDc5Yi00/329-disposizioni-competizioni-serie-a-femminile-prof-e-serie-b-femminile-2025-2026.pdf) |
| Relegation | The 12th-placed club is relegated to Serie B[2](https://files.figc.it/version/c:ZWFiNDI5MDQtMzJhNy00:N2JmZWI4N2YtZDc5Yi00/329-disposizioni-competizioni-serie-a-femminile-prof-e-serie-b-femminile-2025-2026.pdf) |
| Professional status | Players became professionals from the 2022-23 season, with a €26,000 minimum salary and no wage cap[1](https://www.figc.it/it/serie-a-women/format) • [3](https://equalizersoccer.com/2023/03/20/what-the-professionalization-of-serie-a-femminile-means-for-womens-soccer-in-italy/) |
| Most titles (since 1986-87) | Verona 8, Torres 7, Juventus 6, Lazio 5[1](https://www.figc.it/it/serie-a-women/format) |
| Club finances (2024-25) | Revenues ~€1.2m per club; staff costs ~€3.5m; average operating result about -€3.9m[4](https://files.figc.it/version/c:MjEwZDFmNDctYzhlYS00:MGYzNDE4ZjItZGYyMi00/Report-Serie-A-Women-2024-2025.pdf) • [5](https://www.solocalciofemminile.it/serie-a-women-report-stagione-2024-25/) |
| Attendance trend | Average stadium attendances tripled vs 2021-22; Juventus-Roma at the Allianz Stadium drew over 33,000[4](https://files.figc.it/version/c:MjEwZDFmNDctYzhlYS00:MGYzNDE4ZjItZGYyMi00/Report-Serie-A-Women-2024-2025.pdf) |
## History and the road to professionalism
Women's football in Italy grew outside the official federation. A first informal national [Serie A](https://www.edgepedia.org/serie-a) championship was established in 1968, and the organisational groundwork came on 4 February 1968, when seven of ten clubs met at Ostia Lido, leading to the founding of the FICF (Federazione Italiana Calcio Femminile) on 11 April 1968.[6](https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/sports-and-active-living/articles/10.3389/fspor.2025.1508147/full) • [7](https://www.lfootball.it/2023/11/storia-della-serie-a-femminile-che-compie-55-anni) The first FICF Serie A kicked off on 23 June 1968 with two groups of five teams, ending with a final played on 11 November 1968.[7](https://www.lfootball.it/2023/11/storia-della-serie-a-femminile-che-compie-55-anni) Who won that first championship is not settled by the sources: the RSSSF archive lists A.C.F. Genova as the 1968 champion,[8](https://rsssf.org/tablesi/italwomchamp.html) while L Football reports that Real Torino won [Group A](https://www.edgepedia.org/group-a) ahead of the November final.[7](https://www.lfootball.it/2023/11/storia-della-serie-a-femminile-che-compie-55-anni)
The 1970s and 1980s saw the championship pass between rival bodies. An independent league federation, the FFIGC, was established in Rome in 1970 with fourteen teams.[9](https://uefaacademy.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/05/20110622_Williams-Jean_Final-Report.pdf) In 1974 only the FFIUGC-organized championship was played, won by Falchi Astro Montecatini; that federation renamed itself FFIGC in 1975 and then FIGCF, running Serie A until the 1985-86 season.[7](https://www.lfootball.it/2023/11/storia-della-serie-a-femminile-che-compie-55-anni) The FIGC formally took over the Serie A Femminile in the 1986-87 season; before that, between 1968 and 1985, the competition had been run by the FICF, UISP, FFIGC, and FIGCF.[1](https://www.figc.it/it/serie-a-women/format) Scholarly accounts date official recognition to 1986, when the Women's Serie A became an official competition.[6](https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/sports-and-active-living/articles/10.3389/fspor.2025.1508147/full)
For decades the league remained amateur. Initially placed under the LND (Lega Nazionale Dilettanti), it has been organized directly by the [Federation](https://www.edgepedia.org/federation), like [Serie B](https://www.edgepedia.org/serie-b), since the 2018-19 season.[1](https://www.figc.it/it/serie-a-women/format) Before professionalisation, the maximum player salary was €30,658 gross per season, with additional stipends capped at €61.97 per day for up to five days a week.[3](https://equalizersoccer.com/2023/03/20/what-the-professionalization-of-serie-a-femminile-means-for-womens-soccer-in-italy/) The 2022 reform established professional status for female players,[6](https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/sports-and-active-living/articles/10.3389/fspor.2025.1508147/full) and from the 2022-23 season players in the championship hold the status of professionals.[1](https://www.figc.it/it/serie-a-women/format) The reform introduced a guaranteed minimum salary of €26,000 per year for players and staff and abolished the maximum-wage cap.[3](https://equalizersoccer.com/2023/03/20/what-the-professionalization-of-serie-a-femminile-means-for-womens-soccer-in-italy/) A motivating case was Atalanta Mozzanica, a club dissolved after its parent club could no longer financially sustain it.[3](https://equalizersoccer.com/2023/03/20/what-the-professionalization-of-serie-a-femminile-means-for-womens-soccer-in-italy/)
## Format, clubs and relegation
For 2025-26, Serie A is a single round-robin group of 12 clubs playing home and away, with three points for a win and one for a draw. The first-placed club wins the title of [Campione d'Italia](https://www.edgepedia.org/campione-ditalia) 2025/26 and wears the scudetto the following season; the twelfth-placed club is relegated to Serie B.[2](https://files.figc.it/version/c:ZWFiNDI5MDQtMzJhNy00:N2JmZWI4N2YtZDc5Yi00/329-disposizioni-competizioni-serie-a-femminile-prof-e-serie-b-femminile-2025-2026.pdf) The 12-team format followed a FIGC Federal Council reform expanding Serie A from 10 to 12 teams and Serie B to 14 from 2025-26.[10](https://www.figc.it/it/femminile/news/il-consiglio-federale-approva-la-riforma-dei-campionati-femminili-dal-2025-26-serie-a-a-12-squadre-e-serie-b-a-cnjfhtt3)
The transition season, 2024-25, used interim rules: only the last-placed Serie A team was relegated directly, and the top three Serie B clubs were promoted, eliminating the previous relegation playoff between the Serie A penultimate side and the Serie B runner-up.[10](https://www.figc.it/it/femminile/news/il-consiglio-federale-approva-la-riforma-dei-campionati-femminili-dal-2025-26-serie-a-a-12-squadre-e-serie-b-a-cnjfhtt3) From 2026-27 the competition returns to a single round-robin, with the top three qualifying for the 2027-28 [UEFA Women's Champions League](https://www.edgepedia.org/uefa-womens-champions-league) and the last-placed club relegated to Serie B.[1](https://www.figc.it/it/serie-a-women/format) In 2026-27 the league runs 12 teams over 22 rounds, with [Como 1907](https://www.edgepedia.org/como-1907) promoted in place of Genoa, kicking off the last weekend of September 2026 and concluding on the weekend of 15-16 May 2027.[11](https://www.acmilan.com/en/news/articles/women/2026-07-22/serie-a-women-kicks-off-with-como-1907-v-ac-milan)
## Competitive balance and dominant clubs
Counting from 1986-87, Verona is the most successful club with 8 scudetti, followed by Torres (7), Juventus (6), and Lazio (5). Juventus won five consecutive titles between 2018 and 2022.[1](https://www.figc.it/it/serie-a-women/format) The 2024-25 season produced the closest race in the league's recent history: Juventus won the title ahead of Inter by only 4 points, the smallest margin between first and second among the five major European leagues.[4](https://files.figc.it/version/c:MjEwZDFmNDctYzhlYS00:MGYzNDE4ZjItZGYyMi00/Report-Serie-A-Women-2024-2025.pdf)
The club landscape has shifted markedly over a decade. Italy's biggest men's clubs, including Juventus, Roma, Inter, AC Milan, Lazio, Napoli, Sassuolo, Parma, and Genoa, have entered Serie A Women; of the original cohort, only Fiorentina and Como remain, the latter under a new guise.[12](https://richlaverty.substack.com/p/the-inside-story-28-the-rise-of-serie) Fiorentina in 2016-17 was the first professional club to win the league.[1](https://www.figc.it/it/serie-a-women/format)
## By the numbers
The league's financial scale remains small but is growing. Average club revenues grew 8% in 2024-25 to about €1.2 million per club; commercial revenue accounts for 42% of the total, up 31% per club against 2023-24.[4](https://files.figc.it/version/c:MjEwZDFmNDctYzhlYS00:MGYzNDE4ZjItZGYyMi00/Report-Serie-A-Women-2024-2025.pdf) Redistributions from the Divisione and federal or government subsidies account for 31% of total club revenues, while player transfer capital gains more than doubled (+138% per club vs 2023-24).[4](https://files.figc.it/version/c:MjEwZDFmNDctYzhlYS00:MGYzNDE4ZjItZGYyMi00/Report-Serie-A-Women-2024-2025.pdf)
Costs have grown faster than revenues. Club costs rose 16% in 2024-25, with staff costs more than doubling from 2021-22 to 2024-25 to about €3.5 million per club, 65% of which is registered players' cost.[5](https://www.solocalciofemminile.it/serie-a-women-report-stagione-2024-25/) Average operating results sit at about -€3.9 million per club, ranging from about -€1.6 million to -€6.8 million in 2024-25.[5](https://www.solocalciofemminile.it/serie-a-women-report-stagione-2024-25/) The 2023-24 edition of the report counted about 7 million fans and a 48% revenue increase.[13](https://www.sportmediaset.mediaset.it/calcio/report-cresce-interesse-in-serie-a-donne-7-mln-appassionati-e-48-ricavi_97835610-202502k.shtml)
On the pitch, the league reports over 60% of players in club squads as homegrown, and an average goal-difference margin of 1.6, among the most balanced of the five major European championships.[4](https://files.figc.it/version/c:MjEwZDFmNDctYzhlYS00:MGYzNDE4ZjItZGYyMi00/Report-Serie-A-Women-2024-2025.pdf) Average stadium attendances have tripled compared with 2021-22, with Juventus-Roma at the Allianz Stadium drawing over 33,000 spectators as the season's peak.[4](https://files.figc.it/version/c:MjEwZDFmNDctYzhlYS00:MGYzNDE4ZjItZGYyMi00/Report-Serie-A-Women-2024-2025.pdf)
## How it compares with the WSL and other European leagues
The financial gap with England is wide. Serie A Women clubs receive only about a quarter of what WSL clubs earn, with estimated media-related revenues between €150,000 and €250,000, taking into account media rights sold abroad and income from the Serie A Women's Cup.[14](https://theriseofwomensfootball.com/serie-a-women-tv-rights-value) Against that, the league shows unusual competitive balance: the 4-point title margin in 2024-25 was the smallest among the five major European leagues,[4](https://files.figc.it/version/c:MjEwZDFmNDctYzhlYS00:MGYzNDE4ZjItZGYyMi00/Report-Serie-A-Women-2024-2025.pdf) and Italy and France are the only ones among the five major European federations without a senior national team international title.[4](https://files.figc.it/version/c:MjEwZDFmNDctYzhlYS00:MGYzNDE4ZjItZGYyMi00/Report-Serie-A-Women-2024-2025.pdf)
## Recent developments
Several structural changes have reshaped the league since the professionalisation reform. The FIGC temporarily cut the league from 12 to 10 teams to promote competitiveness, with a stated aim of doubling the number of women's footballers by 2025.[3](https://equalizersoccer.com/2023/03/20/what-the-professionalization-of-serie-a-femminile-means-for-womens-soccer-in-italy/) That direction reversed with the 2025-26 reform back to 12 teams in Serie A and 14 in Serie B.[10](https://www.figc.it/it/femminile/news/il-consiglio-federale-approva-la-riforma-dei-campionati-femminili-dal-2025-26-serie-a-a-12-squadre-e-serie-b-a-cnjfhtt3) The 2024-25 season was the first year of a new three-year TV rights cycle distributed across [DAZN](https://www.edgepedia.org/dazn), Rai, and Sky, with generalist-channel audiences more than doubled vs 2021-22.[4](https://files.figc.it/version/c:MjEwZDFmNDctYzhlYS00:MGYzNDE4ZjItZGYyMi00/Report-Serie-A-Women-2024-2025.pdf) Federica Cappelletti, president of the Divisione Serie A Femminile Professionistica, has described professionalism, with its salary, contribution, and medical guarantees, as the central achievement of recent years.[12](https://richlaverty.substack.com/p/the-inside-story-28-the-rise-of-serie)
## References
1. [FIGC — Serie A Women Format](https://www.figc.it/it/serie-a-women/format)
2. [FIGC — Disposizioni competizioni Serie A Femminile Prof e Serie B Femminile 2025-2026](https://files.figc.it/version/c:ZWFiNDI5MDQtMzJhNy00:N2JmZWI4N2YtZDc5Yi00/329-disposizioni-competizioni-serie-a-femminile-prof-e-serie-b-femminile-2025-2026.pdf)
3. [Equalizer Soccer — What the professionalization of Serie A Femminile means for women's soccer in Italy](https://equalizersoccer.com/2023/03/20/what-the-professionalization-of-serie-a-femminile-means-for-womens-soccer-in-italy/)
4. [FIGC — Report Serie A Women 2024-2025](https://files.figc.it/version/c:MjEwZDFmNDctYzhlYS00:MGYzNDE4ZjItZGYyMi00/Report-Serie-A-Women-2024-2025.pdf)
5. [SoloCalcioFemminile — Serie A Women, i dati del report 2024-25](https://www.solocalciofemminile.it/serie-a-women-report-stagione-2024-25/)
6. [Frontiers in Sports and Active Living — Women elite Italian football players' perceptions on gender equality and dual career opportunities](https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/sports-and-active-living/articles/10.3389/fspor.2025.1508147/full)
7. [L Football — La Serie A femminile compie 55 anni](https://www.lfootball.it/2023/11/storia-della-serie-a-femminile-che-compie-55-anni)
8. [RSSSF — Italy, List of Women's Champions](https://rsssf.org/tablesi/italwomchamp.html)
9. [Jean Williams — Women's Football, Europe and Professionalization (UEFA Academy final report)](https://uefaacademy.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/05/20110622_Williams-Jean_Final-Report.pdf)
10. [FIGC — Il Consiglio Federale approva la riforma dei campionati femminili](https://www.figc.it/it/femminile/news/il-consiglio-federale-approva-la-riforma-dei-campionati-femminili-dal-2025-26-serie-a-a-12-squadre-e-serie-b-a-cnjfhtt3)
11. [AC Milan — Serie A Women kicks off with Como 1907 v AC Milan](https://www.acmilan.com/en/news/articles/women/2026-07-22/serie-a-women-kicks-off-with-como-1907-v-ac-milan)
12. [Rich Laverty — The Inside Story #28: The rise of Serie A inside a decade](https://richlaverty.substack.com/p/the-inside-story-28-the-rise-of-serie)
13. [SportMediaset — Report: cresce interesse in Serie A donne](https://www.sportmediaset.mediaset.it/calcio/report-cresce-interesse-in-serie-a-donne-7-mln-appassionati-e-48-ricavi_97835610-202502k.shtml)
14. [The Rise of Women's Football — The Challenge of Unlocking New Value in the Serie A Women's Rights Market](https://theriseofwomensfootball.com/serie-a-women-tv-rights-value)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Sports, games, and recreation › Association football › Football competitions and records › Competitions and recurring events › Domestic leagues and league seasons › Women's domestic leagues › Serie A (women, Italy)*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 11, 2026; Oct 15, 2026 · Last review: Sep 30, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license