English soccer’s Women’s Super League (WSL) top-tier competition has seen a league record crowd in its season-opening match at the Emirates Stadium as Arsenal lost to Liverpool.
The crowd of 54,115 beat the previous WSL attendance record of 47,367 also set by Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium in September 2022, when they played North London rivals Tottenham Hotspur.
A decade prior, Arsenal also opened their WSL season against Liverpool in the same stadium, however, that match was played to an attendance of 2,017.
Successes like the Liverpool match have led to Arsenal’s decision to stage five of their 11 WSL home league matches at the Emirates Stadium this campaign.
Revenues across the 12 clubs in the WSL rose by 60% in the 2021-22 season.
Figures from a report published by global professional services firm Deloitte show combined club revenues of £32 million ($40.2 million) during 2021-22, up from £20 million in 2020-21.
The beginning of a new broadcast deal, for a reported £8 million per season with pay-TV heavyweight Sky, also led to “a significant uplift in broadcast distributions.”
The original agreement with title sponsor Barclays, meanwhile, was for £10 million across three seasons, struck in March 2019, but the new agreement is for £30 million of investment into women’s soccer overall between 2022 and 2025.
