The FA Women’s Super League celebrates ten years since the first season began on April 13, 2011 and one of the biggest goals for the next ten years is financial self-sufficiency and sustainability, which is already being strengthened by a growing audience, a new TV business and greater commercial reach. .
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The landscape of women’s football has changed dramatically in England since the WSL was created to replace the Women’s Premier League as the new top flight. A restructuring created the women’s championship in 2014 and raised the standards that the clubs need to work for to get a competition license, while WSL went completely professional in 2018.
WSL is already home to some of the best female players in the world Naomi Baker / Getty Images
All the positive steps since 2011 have made WSL the best women’s league in Europe, and without a doubt the world. Cementing that status, while also participating in a collaboration to help develop the domestic competitions abroad, is the vision for the future.
Professional status in top flight has improved the standard as players have access to full-time training and coaching, many for the first time, while a multi-million broadcast deal with Sky Sports and the BBC will invest money in WSL clubs and help games reach a wider audience.
The TV contract, announced earlier this season, is the first time WSL broadcasting rights have been sold at home, with broadcasting partners so far only to cover production costs.
The FA already has an active multi-million partnership for WSL with Barclays starting in 2019, which created prize money, while the higher profile and quality of the league, as well as a growing interest, will only serve to make additional commercial offers more available in the short term. and long term.
New TV Broadcasting Agreement Takes WSL to New Heights in Economic Strength, Commercial Reach and Audience Matthew Ashton – AMA / Getty Images
In 90 minutes last month, Megan Rapinoe said the TV broadcasting agreement in particular is an “incredible” step forward for WSL, emphasizing that the money from such partnerships is the most important tool for the continued development of women’s games.
The original Barclays deal will end at the end of next season, but the FA is already in preliminary early talks about what a renewed partnership beyond that might look like.
Such commercial and broadcast offers in the league that share money between the clubs from a central pot, in addition to any partnerships and sponsorships that individual clubs will increasingly be able to negotiate on their own, are the path to financial sustainability.
It was the lack of finances that killed both WUSA and WPS in the United States, the forerunners of the current NWSL, but the FA is determined that its WSL sides will be able to support themselves in the not too distant future without further help from men and clubs respectively. In the end, it is important to have a sustainable league as well as to have a quality one.
Here are ten more. ? # 10YearsofBFAWSL pic.twitter.com/37dwNZxBLT
– Barclays FA Super League Women’s (@BarclaysFAWSL) April 13, 2021
To achieve this, some of the challenges facing WSL in the short term are to ensure that sufficient infrastructure is in place to support the growth and development of the league. This means having a good standard of venues available to play at, ensuring that venues where games are held have decent media facilities – both for print and broadcast media, and improving the quality of referees and match officials, who are currently only part-timers.
There are currently no plans to implement VAR in WSL due to the huge costs, but one of the most important current developments regarding player protection and protection in terms of social media and online abuse and captain meetings has emerged as one of the few pluses of the pandemic, which gives players a more open line of communication to the FA and league bosses. These meetings are a way to ensure that players get more support.
Among the regrets of the development of WSL is that rapidly raising the standards for licenses to be granted to clubs, as the wording of WSL 2 2014, now the women’s championships, has meant that a handful of the more historic sides have fallen by the wayside. Budget constraints have caused some teams to sink further down the league ladder to a more affordable level, but that in turn leads back to making the pyramid as a whole of higher quality and financially sustainable.
WSL is celebrating ten years and has seen tremendous growth during that time Catherine Ivill / Getty Images
The first ten years of WSL have been a whirlwind, starting as an eight-club semi-professional competition but continuing to be a solid two-level setup with 24 clubs and a fully professional top flight that is jealous of Europe’s status, appeal and competitiveness .
If the next ten years bring that level of growth and development again, perhaps even at a faster pace due to increased financial power, the sky is really the limit for WSL 2031.
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