November 27 – The on-off agreement by clubs in the top two professional tiers of English women’s club football to pool league commercial rights into a new company, which would see them away from the apron strings of the English FA, now appears to be back on track.
Clubs in the Championship (tier 2) had initially rejected the proposal for a new company which would have taken their voting rights away on key issues, including giving Championship clubs an equal vote to clubs in the Super League on commercial decisions.
Now, according to Sky, it appears the 12 Championship clubs have written to the FA saying they want to be part of the ‘newco’ plan.
The initial financial foundation for the new entity is a proposed £15 million loan from the FA. The Premier League has also expressed an interest in becoming part of the funding package.
Terms of the deal and proposals for the newco’s structure are sparse in detail but they do include a 25% share of the combined leagues’ commercial income.
Newco is expected to be operational by the start, or soon after, of the 2024/25 season.
Last September, Dawn Airey, who chairs the WSL and Championship, said she wanted the WSL to become the world’s first £1billion-revenue women’s competition within a decade.
“That isn’t a figure we just plucked from the air, it is based on a pretty decent and detailed business plan for over the course of the next 10 years,” said Airey.
“We look at the growth of attendances, we look at the growth of engagement and broadcast, we look at the increased interest in sponsorship and marketing opportunities, and then we start being more imaginative about what attending a women’s game means. Not just watching the game, but everything that goes on around it, is there potential for clubs to think differently about their revenues?”
The first steps for the new commercial entity will be to secure a well paid broadcast deal. Airey, who has a background in broadcast, knows the landscape having worked for ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5 and Sky.
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