The Women’s Super League (WSL) has confirmed 13 new international media rights deals for the 2025/26 season, including several in key women’s soccer markets.
Australia’s Stan Sport, Canadian broadcaster Rogers, and Spanish pay-TV giant Movistar are among those to have inked deals for England’s elite women’s soccer league. Meanwhile, Fox has acquired the rights for Mexico and Central America, BeIN Sports will show games in Southeast Asia countries, Dubai TV will air games in the MENA region and Azam TV has become the league’s broadcaster in Sub-Saharan Africa.
In addition, the league will have a trio of broadcast partners in China, with Migu, Hayu and iQiyi all signing agreements for the upcoming campaign.
All of the deals were coordinated with IMG, which has been appointed as WSL Football’s exclusive international media rights representative for its leagues as part of a multi-year tie-up.
In markets without a broadcast partner, the league’s YouTube official channel will live stream every game, which will also air every match from WSL2 with an upgraded camera setup improving broadcast quality for the latter.
Although domestic viewing figures for the WSL fell by a third last season, the league witnessed significant growth in terms of its international fanbase. Data from YouGov suggests the WSL reached a combined global audience of 72.1 million during the 2024/26 campaign and it is estimated that three quarters of its broadcast viewers are from outside the UK.
The 2025/26 WSL campaign kicks off this weekend and will be the first to be covered by new UK£65 million (US$87.4 million) domestic broadcast partnerships with Sky Sports and the BBC set to run until 2030.
Sky will show up to 118 games each season, with 78 matches to be broadcast exclusively on its linear and digital platforms. The remaining 34 fixtures will be shared non-exclusively between the pay-TV network and WSL Football’s YouTube channel, with seven match ups to be shared by the BBC and Sky.
The BBC will overall broadcast 21 games across its platforms, including 14 exclusively on BBC television. The seven shared games will stream on BBC iPlayer and BBC digital platforms.
Ahead of the new season, WSL Football has brought on board British Gas as its official energy partner on a multi-year deal. British Gas customers will be able to win free WSL and WSL2 tickets and experiences, with community events also to be a part of the partnership.
This is the first partnership WSL Football has agreed with the assistance of Two Circles, the league’s exclusive sponsorship agency. This comes after the league extended its partnership with Nike and struck a three-year deal with Ocean Outdoor UK.
SportsPro says…
The WSL has gone from strength to strength in recent years thanks to increased investment from clubs, sponsors and other stakeholders, widespread media exposure, and the priceless boost of the England national women’s team’s successes in major international tournaments.
Although a recent decline in attendances and television ratings proves progress isn’t linear, and these trends should both be reversed after another successful summer for the Lionesses, the WSL is now firmly established as one of the world’s premier women’s soccer leagues, amplified by the global profile of many of its leading clubs.
These broadcast deals demonstrate the increasing commercial maturity of the WSL and its rising international profile, whilst providing a platform for the WSL for further growth.
While it may be some time before the competition generates more revenues and has more fans internationally than it does domestically like the Premier League does, the WSL will hope its star players, world-famous clubs, and passionate fanbases (often in full stadiums) will help it establish first mover advantage.
SOURCE: https://www.sportspro.com/news/wsl-international-media-rights-deals-september-2025/
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