YouTube, the Google-owned global video platform, has been announced as the new official match streaming platform of English soccer’s upcoming 2024-25 Women’s Super League (WSL) in the UK.
WSL games not broadcast on TV as part of the league’s existing deals with pay-TV giant Sky or free-to-air public broadcaster BBC will be shown for free on YouTube on the Barclays WSL channel, as will select fixtures from the second-tier Women’s Championship (WC) on the Barclays WC channel.
BBC and Sky renewed their domestic broadcast rights for the WSL’s 2024-25 season back in April, with the new contract once again granting Sky the rights to up to 44 games per season, and the BBC up to 22.
This means that a minimum of 70 WSL games will be broadcast on YouTube in 2024-25. The site will also host ancillary content from around the two leagues including highlights packages, feature content, post-match player and staff interviews, and more.
The announcement sees the competition move away from FA Player, the in-house OTT service of English soccer’s FA governing body, which will still host broadcasts from the Women’s FA Cup knockout tournament.
Speaking on the announcement and the shift away from FA Player, WSL and WC chief executive Nikki Doucet stated: “The FA Player has been a hugely important part of the growth of women’s football in recent years, and the free-to-air reach it has afforded our teams has been crucial in our development.
“Coupled with the high-quality coverage provided by our broadcast partners Sky Sports and the BBC, watching the women’s professional game here in the UK has never been easier.”
Doucet also spoke briefly on the impact YouTube will have as the league moves to its new independent governance structure (NewCo) that it voted through last November, adding: “As we continue our journey into the NewCo, YouTube will offer even more supporters, both current and future, the opportunity to enjoy our amazing leagues at a click of a button.”
The NewCo, when it is formally established, will take control of the two divisions, both of which are currently run by the Football Association (FA) body. Each club in the top two tiers will become a shareholder, and former NIKE executive and investment banker Nikki Doucet will be the firm’s first chief executive.
The FA has run the 12-team WSL since the league first launched 13 years ago, but a takeover has been in the works for some time now - the FA 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. It has also run the Women’s Championship since 2014.
