England’s Women’s Super League (WSL) is preparing for a sea change. It aims to grow to 14 teams, but initially, it requires approval from The FA Board. Furthermore, this expansion is a significant achievement for women’s football. It seeks to raise the competitive balance and level the playing field to provide better opportunities for youth clubs and players. This announcement comes at a time when the league is celebrating a new five-year broadcasting agreement with Sky Sports, raising the profile of the league even higher.
Once the new structure is implemented, the bottom team of the WSL will receive automatic relegation, beginning in the 2026/27 season. Additionally, the 13th-placed team will need to navigate a playoff against the WSL 2 runners-up to retain its position in the top tier. Overall, this amendment would bring a lot more drama and suspense to the league as teams compete to avoid being demoted. The winners of the top two teams of WSL 2 will automatically be promoted to the WSL. Such a promotion would establish an exciting, vigorous current of positive competition between the two leagues.
New Broadcasting Deal Enhances Visibility
Sky Sports’ commitment to the Women’s Super League has been unprecedented. From an American viewing perspective, they’ll be streaming close to 90 percent of the league’s games. From next season, Sky Sports will broadcast 118 WSL matches, of which 78 will be exclusively shown on their platform. That would be a huge jump in coverage, showing more than three times the amount of games currently aired.
Sky Sports have been ensuring coverage for women’s sports. Fast-forward to 2023, and the network is still airing more than 70 percent of all live televised women’s events. Sky Sports is preparing for an all-out offensive on Premier League next season. That’s an increase from 128 matches to a minimum of 215 exclusive live games! As part of this deal, 80 percent of all live Premier League games will be aired on Sky Sports.
“Our priority was to find a route that would benefit the whole women’s game pyramid, and we believe this next evolution of women’s professional football will raise minimum standards, create distinction and incentivise investment across the board.” – WSL
Implications of the Expansion
The WSL is growing in order to increase participation at the highest level. This expansion creates new paths to multiple levels of promotion for clubs currently in the lower divisions, such as Birmingham City, Bristol City, Charlton and Newcastle. Each side gets three opportunities to earn their way into the top tier. They can do this through a number of promotional avenues.
The league’s governing body, the Office of the Commissioner, has been deliberate in determining how to most effectively roll out this expansion. Although widely hailed as a historic breakthrough for women’s football, hurdles still exist. Practitioners and scholars alike have criticized the discussion, arguing that economic pressures from heightened competition and relegation threats would be wielded as a club.
“The league’s bosses have thought long and hard about how best to expand the top division but today’s announcement won’t be without its critics.” – Anton Toloui
A New Era for Women’s Football
Though work for the expanded league is only just underway, those involved remain hopeful about its potential to benefit women’s football. The introduction of a promotion/relegation playoff adds a new layer of excitement and significance to matches towards the end of each season.
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