Report: Sponsors still wary of WSL
November 27, 2023
The 2023/24 Women’s Super League (WSL) season is off to a record-breaking start, with attendance milestones and a robust social media following underscoring the rising popularity of women’s football in England. While Manchester clubs lead in sponsorship revenue, sponsors are still hesitant to commit to independent deals with WSL teams, highlighting the ongoing challenges in achieving financial parity with their male counterparts, reveals GlobalData, the data and analytics company.
GlobalData’s report, Business of Women’s Super League (WSL) 2023-24 – Property Profile, Sponsorship and Media Landscape,” offers a look at the league’s sponsorship, attendances and tickets, media landscape, kit sponsorship, and club sponsorship analysis.
Olivia Snooks, Sport Analyst at GlobalData, commented: “The dominance of the WSL is reflected in both its attendance records and its social media following. Not all the WSL teams can play matches at the men’s stadiums, which have a larger capacity, therefore when records are being broken at the Emirates Stadium for a WSL fixture, it reflects the growing popularity of women’s soccer in the UK.”
The growing popularity of the WSL has been largely to do with its broadcasting rights. BBC and Sky Sports have the rights to broadcast the WSL in the UK, with the BBC agreeing a deal which was the first of its kind. The public service broadcaster air at least 18 WSL games per season, allowing greater accessibility for fans.
Snooks continued: “Airing WSL matches on free-to-air TV is vital to create greater exposure for women’s soccer in the UK. The significance of this deal being the first of its kind shows how women’s soccer has taken a big step forward as media rights within sport is vital for the sport to progress and grow.”
The total annual estimated sponsorship revenue for the WSL clubs is $1.1 billion including 89 deals in total across the 12 teams. However, only 13 of these deals are women’s only partners. Despite Manchester United Women having the highest sponsorship revenue, they have no women’s only partners for the 2023/24 season. Chelsea Women dominate the WSL as of present, both in terms of success and attracting women’s only sponsorships.
Snooks concluded: “As most deals in the WSL are primarily agreed with the men’s team, the annual estimated sponsorship value does not represent the amount of the WSL clubs. Despite there being an increase of eight women’s only partners from the 22/23 season, there is still major disparity between the men’s and women’s teams. However, with greater exposure, this will enable women’s soccer to grow and progress, and hopefully in turn will generate more interest in brands to invest in women’s WSL teams.”