The recently formed Women’s Professional Leagues Limited (WPLL) body claims to have agreed “the most significant broadcast partnership ever for women’s football in the UK & Ireland” after concluding a new rights agreement with pay-TV giant Sky and the BBC public-service broadcaster.
The new deal sees both broadcasters retain their rights to show the top-tier Women’s Super League (WSL) for a further five years.
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The new long-term contract, which will begin from the 2025-26 season and run through 2029-30, was brokered by the Women’s Sport Group on behalf of WPLL.
The agreement is understood to be worth £65 million ($84.6 million) over the five seasons. With production costs added, the total deal is likely to exceed £100 million.
As lead broadcast partner paying the larger share, Sky will show up to 118 matches, with 78 fixtures shown exclusively across Sky and Sky Sports channels including all matches from the closing weekend of the season.
For the remaining matches, 34 will be shared non-exclusively between Sky and WPLL’s YouTube channel, and seven broadcast on both Sky and the BBC.
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By GlobalDataIn addition to the increased number of matches broadcast, Sky will provide “unprecedented promotion and marketing support” to the league.
The new partnership also gives Sky the option to show matches from the second-tier Women’s Championship and Women’s League Cup, including the final. This brings both competitions onto Sky for the first time.
The BBC will broadcast live coverage of 21 matches, including 14 exclusive matches on its linear channels and seven shared on the BBC iPlayer streaming service and BBC digital platforms.
Audio commentary of selected matches will also be available on BBC Radio 5 Live, Sounds, and on local BBC radio every weekend of match weeks.
As part of WPLL’s strategy, players are “at the heart of the new rights deal”, with in game and post-game rights being granted to players to use for the first time.
Nikki Doucet, CEO of WPLL, said: "Agreeing the next cycle of broadcast rights was a priority for us and we are very fortunate to have two premium broadcast partners in Sky and the BBC who believe in the future and value of women's football as much as we do.
“The growth of the game is undeniable, and this deal is another step in the right direction and positive news for the fans, the players, and the clubs. Sky and the BBC are long-time backers and their contribution to the growth of the women’s game should not go without recognition.
“They provide excellent visibility coupled with first-class production values and we look forward to building on our partnership over the coming years.”
Sky and the BBC agreed short-term domestic rights extensions with the WSL for the 2024-25 season in April while WPLL was preparing to take control of domestic women’s soccer.
A key component of WPLL’s initial work was always to secure new long-term broadcast deals beyond 2025-26.
The previous three-season rights cycle began in advance of the 2021-22 campaign, with Sky and the BBC striking deals that, combined, had a total value of around £8 million per season, GlobalData (Sportcal) estimated.
Last season, both Sky and the BBC secured record audiences for their WSL coverage.
WPLL officially took control of the WSL and Women’s Championship in August. The competitions were previously run by the Football Association (FA) body.
Each club active in the two leagues has become a shareholder in WPLL, which was initially created under the guise of NewCo last November and is now fully operationally independent of the FA (although the body does retain a special share in the organization, giving it rights to a portion of eventual revenue).
The FA had run the 12-team WSL since the league first launched 13 years ago but unveiled in 2018 that it did not want to run the WSL as a long-term commitment and that it would welcome proposals as to the creation of an alternative governance structure.
The new broadcast deal is the second major agreement struck by WPLL since taking control after recently agreeing a three-year WSL title sponsorship extension with global bank Barclays worth a reported £15 million ($19.5 million) per season.
English women’s soccer has boomed in terms of in-stadia attendance, broadcast viewership, and commercial success in recent years.
The national team won the European Championship on home soil in 2021 and reached the final of the FIFA Women’s World Cup last year, while its club sides are now becoming more competitive in the pan-continental UEFA Women's Champions League.
