Ineos spent billions on sport and still turned its back on women

A wall of success with one striking omission

Beneath a staircase at OGC Nice’s training ground, a colourful photo display celebrates the sporting reach of Ineos. Footballers from Manchester United and Nice pose with trophies, cyclists from the Ineos Grenadiers speed past, and Formula One drivers appear in branded overalls. The montage reflects the vision of Sir Jim Ratcliffe, founder and chairman of the petrochemicals group.

According to publicly available figures cited by The Athletic, Ineos has invested more than £2.5 billion in sport over the past eight years. Yet women’s sport is almost entirely absent from that portfolio, both visually and financially.

Cycling’s open door that stayed shut

According to The Athletic, Ineos took control of Team Sky in 2019 and inherited one of the most powerful structures in men’s professional cycling. At the time, former UCI president Brian Cookson and others encouraged the launch of a women’s team. That never materialised.

One former professional cyclist told The Athletic that the decision was baffling, describing it as a missed opportunity to shape the future of the sport. Rival teams such as Visma Lease a Bike and Lidl Trek invested instead and now dominate the women’s peloton.

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Proposals sent to Ineos to establish women’s development and continental teams went unanswered, according to people involved in those efforts. Ineos declined to comment on those accounts.

Clear priorities at Manchester United

After acquiring a minority stake in Manchester United, Ratcliffe was explicit about where the women’s team ranked. According to The Sunday Times, he said in 2024, “The men’s team make £800 million, the women’s team cost £10m.”

He later told BBC Sport that the men’s side is “what moves the needle.” Club accounts show the women’s team contributes only a fraction of total revenue, a fact Ratcliffe has repeatedly highlighted.

The business case Ineos may be missing

According to Deloitte, global revenues in women’s elite sport are forecast to reach at least $2.35 billion by 2025, representing growth of more than 200 percent since 2022. The consultancy said the expansion of women’s sport has exceeded expectations, particularly in football and basketball.

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Christina Philippou, an associate professor of sport finance at the University of Portsmouth, told The Athletic that failing to invest early could harm a brand’s long term relevance. She said companies that wait risk falling behind competitors who are already shaping the market.

From record breakers to overlooked champions

Ineos prominently backed Eliud Kipchoge’s successful attempt to run a marathon in under two hours in 2019. Ratcliffe described the project at the time as inspiring and worthwhile.

However, when Olympic champion Faith Kipyegon attempted to become the first woman to run a mile in under four minutes in 2024, Ineos was not publicly involved. According to The Athletic, the project was backed by Nike instead.

Modest budgets and muted ambition

At club level, Ineos backed women’s teams at Nice and Lausanne operate on comparatively small budgets. According to French media cited by The Athletic, Nice reduced funding for its women’s side ahead of the 2024 season and narrowly avoided relegation.

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In Switzerland, Lausanne’s women compete outside the top divisions. Swiss journalist Florian Paccaud told The Athletic that Ineos does not appear committed to building a truly competitive women’s programme.

A pattern that refuses to go away

Ineos says it is committed to supporting female athletes across its sporting activities. Yet, according to The Athletic’s reporting, there are currently no women led teams within its elite sports operations, and decision making remains concentrated among an all male leadership group.

For critics across cycling, football and sailing, the issue is not the absence of opportunity but the repeated choice not to act. As one former professional cyclist put it to The Athletic, Ineos had years to lead change. Now, others have taken that space instead.

Sources: The Athletic, BBC Sport, The Sunday Times, Deloitte

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