The Smarter DAM System Powering Liga F’s Global Growth

A league accelerating in reach and ambition

The Primera División de la Liga de Fútbol Femenino, better known as Liga F, is the top professional women’s football league in Spain. As one of Europe’s most important women’s leagues, it represents the highest level of competition and visibility for the sport. With growing global attention and new sponsorship opportunities, Liga F needed a better way to manage and share its growing library of photos. The league required a system that could serve its clubs and sponsors in real time.

The challenge: Managing content for clubs and sponsors

As Chief Operating Officer, Virginia Herrero oversees the operational backbone of Liga F, including how its media is distributed to clubs and partners. Each week, her team coordinates photographers across eight matches, balancing daily requests with the demand for instant content. The previous system, based on SharePoint, made collaboration difficult and created unnecessary delays. The result was bottlenecks and time lost. Here’s what they faced:

• Departments stayed siloed. “We have a lot of information here at Liga F in SharePoint, but it’s organized by department, so every group only has permission to its own department,” Herrero explained. This structure kept clubs and sponsors from accessing critical match photos. She added, “We needed to give access to our clubs so that they could get our photos.”
• No central upload system. Without a dedicated media hub, Liga F photographers had no single place to upload images. Herrero noted, “We needed our own system where all of our pictures could be collected and organized, so that everyone could have the right access.”
• Sponsors relied on constant requests. Sponsors would ask for specific images, creating back-and-forth delays. As Herrero put it, “Sometimes we would hear, ‘We need a picture of this player or this and that,’ and we’d have to look for it ourselves.”

“At each game within Liga F, we send photographers and we give their photos to the individual clubs and our sponsors, too. So we needed a place where all of Liga F could have access, as well as a place where our photographers could upload their pictures.”

Virginia Herrero, Chief Operating Officer, Liga F

Photo by Jose Manuel Alvarez/CAPTURASPORT/LigaF

The solution: A central hub with real-time access

Before, Liga F was limited by outdated tools. Now, with PhotoShelter, the league’s content is instantly accessible to clubs, sponsors, and staff. Photographers can upload in real time, and partners no longer need to wait for someone to send them files. Here’s how they solved it:

• An easy, intuitive platform. PhotoShelter provided a system that was simple and visually appealing. “For us, as the organization, PhotoShelter is easier and more visually attractive, too, for our photos,” Herrero said.
• Seamless collaboration. With eight games every match day, Liga F photographers can now upload directly to the correct gallery, where clubs and the digital team can access photos instantly. “We don’t need to do anything on our end at Liga F between the photographer uploading pictures and the clubs downloading them,” Herrero explained.
• Real-time delivery with FTP. Critical moments like goals require instant coverage. “When football is live, especially during the games, if there is a goal, we need that picture immediately,” Herrero said. FTP upload into PhotoShelter makes that possible.
• AI-powered search and tagging. With hundreds of pictures per week to sort through, finding specific content used to take too long. Now AI tagging speeds up discovery of players and, soon, sponsor logos. “It’s saving us time… When you have to look for something specific, it’s really helpful,” Herrero noted.

• Mobile access through FileFlow. Liga F’s digital team uses FileFlow to access images at stadiums and on the go, ensuring nothing slows down their workflows on match day.
• Built-in analytics for ROI. PhotoShelter’s reporting and analytic tools show how often clubs and sponsors use content. “It’s easier to get a budget approved if you can demonstrate that they are using it,” Herrero said.

“The AI tools are really useful when looking for a specific player. It will detect the player and learn… It also helps when looking for something specific in our pictures. It’s quite useful and it’s saving us time. We can have maybe 50-80 pictures per game, so imagine that’s hundreds of pictures per week. When you have to look for something specific, it’s really helpful.” 

Virginia Herrero, Chief Operating Officer, Liga F

A league with stories ready to be shared

PhotoShelter has given Liga F a system that matches the pace of the league itself. What once required significant manual effort and constant requests is now instant and accessible. Clubs get what they need without waiting, sponsors see their value clearly, and the league can focus on growing the game. Liga F ensures that every moment on the pitch can be captured, shared, and remembered.

“The pictures that we get at all of our games are crucial for us. It’s a key point. When we have access to our pictures and the clubs have access to the pictures, it’s easy for us to spread the word about our league and connect with our fans.” 

Virginia Herrero, Chief Operating Officer, Liga F