Every WSL match to be live on TV in historic first

IRISH stars in the Women’s Super League such as Katie McCabe will be regularly seen on television, with every game set to be broadcast live from next season in a historic first for football in the UK. Mail Sport has learned that the WSL tender document issued to broadcasters earlier this month features all 132 league games, 56 of which will be sold on an exclusive basis. The WSL has not secured the 3pm Saturday slot demanded by former England midfielder Karen Carney in her independent review of women’s football as it has yet to reach an agreement with the Premier League and EFL to revise the UEFA blackout. Saturday lunchtime and Sunday afternoon will remain the most common kick-off times. In an attempt to boost the existing £7.75million-a-year deal, the WSL has responded by making every match available for broadcast, which it is hoped will attract bids from beyond current rights-holders Sky Sports and the BBC. Sky and the BBC are set to bid again, and TNT and DAZN have also expressed interest in securing some of the packages. The existing TV deal for the WSL sees Sky broadcast 35 matches per season and the BBC 22, with the rest streamed free on the FA’s website. Sky contribute around £7m of the contract and are understood to have argued in initial talks that the WSL’s value has not risen significantly, a view supported by their subscription and advertising data. The WSL is understood to be seeking a new TV contract worth between £15m and £20m a year. Its strategy is similar to that which saw the National Women’s Soccer League in the United States secure a remarkable £50m-a-year deal last year by selling packages to four different broadcasters. The WSL’s tactics also mirror those used successfully in recent years by the Premier League and EFL to secure bigger TV deals, albeit taken to extremes. From next season a staggering 1,059 of the 1,891 matches in the EFL will be broadcast live on Sky, and from the 2025-26 campaign 270 of the 380 Premier League games will be televised live. Sky is also televising every Super League fixture live in the new rugby league season which begins tonight, though some of those matches will be shared with the BBC.