The Women’s Super League (WSL), the top-tier women’s football league in England, has secured seven sponsorship agreements for the 2025/26 season, with its partnership with Barclays being the largest by annual value. Overall, the WSL is expected to generate an estimated $23.53 million in sponsorship revenue for the 2025/26 season, experiencing a notable increase in both sponsorship revenue and the number of deals compared with the previous season, which had only three partnerships worth an estimated $14.72 million, reveals GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.
GlobalData’ s latest report, “Business of Women’s Super League (WSL) 2025/26”, revealed that 2025/26 WSL season is expected to generate $16.88 million in domestic media revenue. Arsenal has the most expensive season tickets for the season.
Barclays has served as the WSL’s title sponsor since 2019 and, ahead of the 2025/26 season, renewed its agreement to remain title sponsor of both the WSL and the second-tier Women’s Championship (WSL 2). Barclays’ renewal was the first major contract secured by the league’s new takeover company, WPLL (Women’s Professional Leagues Limited). The new deal covers 2025–2028 and is reported to be worth £15 million ($19.98 million) per year.
Olivia Snooks, sport analyst at GlobalData, comments: “The addition of new sponsors, including British Gas and Football Manager, and rising sponsorship income reflect a growing commercial footprint, aided by the league’s proactive efforts to develop its brand and elevate athlete profiles.”
The 2025/26 WSL season introduces an updated broadcast lineup, with the BBC and Sky renewing the deals first signed in 2021, which boosted exposure and supported league growth. The renewed partnership is now the largest broadcast agreement in European women’s football. One of the major changes to this year’s TV coverage of the WSL is the shift to a midday Sunday timeslot. Sky plans to schedule most of its allotted matches at midday on Sundays, broadcasting them on the Sky Sports.
The season marks the start of a new domestic media rights cycle running through the 2029–30; the deal is reported to be worth £65 million (approximately $84.4 million). The previous domestic cycle covered 2021-25 and was valued at £24 million (about $33.26 million).
Snooks continues: “It is no coincidence that the first long-term broadcast deal for the WSL was negotiated by the WPLL, which took over management of England’s top two women’s leagues from the FA ahead of the 2025/26 season. The agreement reflects both growth in audience numbers and a shift in commercial priorities toward investing in women’s sport, as demonstrated by Sky and the BBC’s willingness to pay more for rights and increase match visibility.”
The WSL has the largest combined social following on Facebook, Instagram, and X—about 10–11 times the Frauen-Bundesliga—giving it a clear reach advantage. Its 22% year-on-year growth is strong but slower proportionally due to its size and broadly matches Arkema Première Ligue and Serie A Femminile. This scale and growth are closely linked to England’s national team success, with major tournament wins converting global interest into WSL followership.
Snooks concludes: “The National Women’s Soccer League in the US is the closest to the WSL in terms of social media following, with over 1.8 million followers across the three social media platforms. However, the WSL remains far ahead in terms of popularity, particularly on social media, due to its rapid growth in the UK, increased international exposure through the success of the English national team, and its connection to globally recognized men’s clubs, which helps it attract a wider and more engaged online audience.”
