INEOS’ £2.5bn Sports Splurge Ignores Women Despite Calls for Investment

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GRRL! musings…

Wowowow…

Apparently to Sir Jim Ratcliffe (shouldn’t a royal moniker require decency?) men’s teams make money, women’s teams lose money. Maybe Jimbo should read up on the NY Liberty $400M valuation, Angel City $ 380M, or the Golden State Valkyries $500M. It’s at least a little harder to be such an unmitigated dolt when you know facts.

Or here’s another thought, Jimmy… maybe it’s just that your misogynistic attitude makes you suck as an owner of women’s teams. Just sayin’.

But it’s clear this f*cking caveman attitude will be with us for generations. Let’s do all we can to make knuckle-draggers like Sir Jim feel as stupid and wrong as they are.

Go GRRL!

December 22, 2025

GRRL! SUMMARY:

Despite £2.5bn in sports investments, INEOS has systematically avoided backing women’s teams across cycling, sailing, and football. When PAULINE FERRAND-PREVOT won Olympic mountain bike gold in 2024, INEOS had her on contract but refused to build a women’s cycling team around her – she promptly left for Visma-Lease A Bike and won the 2025 Tour de France Femmes. Multiple proposals for women’s cycling teams, including a detailed €1.5m continental team plan, were ignored entirely.
In sailing, INEOS bankrolled the men’s America’s Cup campaign to the tune of £226.5m but left HANNAH MILLS’ groundbreaking Athena Pathway women’s team to find their own sponsors. Mills led Britain’s first-ever women’s America’s Cup team to the final, making history while INEOS watched from the sidelines. Meanwhile, Italy, France, Switzerland, New Zealand and the US all sponsored their women’s teams alongside their men’s campaigns.
At Manchester United, INEOS cut Nice women’s budget from €1.4m to €1m while the men’s team operates on €80m annually. The women’s team nearly got relegated after losing 10 players and coaching staff due to budget constraints. Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s dismissive “men’s team makes £800m, women’s team costs £10m” comment reveals the mentality, even as experts warn INEOS is missing massive growth opportunities in women’s sports projected to hit $2.35bn globally by 2025.