WSL takeover: a new era for women's football?

Women's football in the UK is "set for a seismic shake-up" as the two top divisions will be owned and run by the clubs themselves.

The Women's Super League and the Women's Championship were under the jurisdiction of the game's governing body, the Football Association (FA), said the Daily Mirror. But the FA has confirmed that a new independent organisation named "NewCo" will take over both divisions when the current season ends in May, after all 24 clubs voted in favour.

This will be an "essential development for the women's game, at a time when revenues, attendance and TV coverage are also increasing rapidly", said the Mirror.

'Unique audience'

Last summer Deloitte's annual football finance report showed that WSL revenues had risen by 60% in the 2021-22 season, to a record-breaking £32 million (up from £20 million in the previous season). This was thanks in part to "a landmark broadcast deal" between Sky Sports and the BBC, worth a reported £8 million a year.

After England's historic triumph at the Euros in 2022, attendances at WSL matches increased by 200% in the 2022-23 season, the report said, while this year's Women's World Cup garnered record viewing figures in the UK. The WSL now believes "it can become the first billion-pound women's football league in the world within a decade", said Al Jazeera.

NewCo, jointly owned by all 24 clubs, was formed just months after England reached the World Cup final in Australia last year. It aims to target a "unique audience" for women's football, and set aside "judgement and direct comparison to the men's game", its chief executive and former Nike director Nikki Doucet told the BBC. "Our vision is women's football transformed," she said on Sky Sports.

Doucet's plans follow the recommendations made by former England international Karen Carney and her fan-led review last year. "Women's football is a start-up business," Carney said. "In 10 years' time I really do believe this sport could be a billion-pound industry," The Independent reported.

And her report called for a new unit, funded by the FA, to research issues that disproportionately affect female players – including higher rates of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries compared with men.

'Project Moonshot'

"The commercial value of the game is increasing," Alex Culvin, head of women's football strategy and research at global players' union FIFPRO, told Al Jazeera. "The women's game in England has never been more appealing."

The decision to "break free" from the FA will give the women's game "a newfound autonomy and play a vital role in shaping its future", said Al Jazeera – "although many pitfalls and uncertainties remain".

Kelly Simmons, former FA director of the women's game, said that a company independent from the governing body would have a "laser focus" on decisions around the women's game.

"The FA wasn't the right long-term fit because it's the governing body and regulator, and there are some commercial conflicts in that," she said. And the women's game "has always been wrapped up in sort of the politics of whatever is going on in the men's game and hasn't been able to have that voice to call out what's needed for the women's game publicly".

Doucet emphasised the scale of ambition by naming her proposal "Project Moonshot". She told the media last week that negotiations were under way over a new broadcast deal, as the current arrangement is due to expire at the end of this season.

"If you look at women's sport over the last 50-100 years, it has been underfunded," Doucet told BBC Sport. "It has been treated like a charity and expected charity returns. Now you're starting to see professional management come in with real investment and strategies."

It is, she added, "the most amazing opportunity".