Nikki Doucet, chief executive of the UK women’s professional game, said moving the streaming platform for the Women’s Super League (WSL) and championships to YouTube will expand the reach of the competition.
Doucet also confirmed there was a “long-term” timetable for repaying the Premier League’s £20m ($25.2m) loan to Women’s Professional League Limited (WPLL, formerly NewCo) and said her job was to find more More owners like London City Lions’ Michel Kang invest in the club and increase revenue.
The WSL and Championship YouTube channels have replaced FA Player as the primary streaming service across regions for the 2024-25 season, with all non-televised WSL matches and select Championship matches available to watch globally on the platform.
The WSL’s broadcast deal was originally due to expire at the end of last season, but in April this year, the BBC and Sky Sports extended it for another year. Doucette said the move to YouTube would help prove the value of both alliances when media rights are put up for bid again next year.
“When we enter the market, we will consider both the WSL and the championship (broadcasting rights),” Doucet said.
“55,000 people watched the (London City Lions vs Newcastle United) game (on YouTube on Sunday). When you factor in the game against FA Player. I think the highest amount on FA Player last year was 4,500.
“So our job now is to make sure we get as much leverage as possible to win the championship in the right way and we’re focused on that. So we’ve thought carefully about what we can do for the championship from a marketing and commercial perspective.
“The more value we can get out of it, the better it is for everyone and the WSL. We can expand our reach through tournaments, bring them to YouTube, engage more people, tell more stories, the right way Use our channel.
“We’re investing in the YouTube channel to make sure we can get views and we can point that out in the right way. Over time, we’re building more data to be able to show these are views, these are engagements Degree, this is the audience, this is the impact. And then we have the ability to go back to the market and look again at where we can maximize the value of those points.
“Our media rights are 25-26 and we will be looking at both properties.”
Doucet was appointed chief executive of the WPLL in November (Football Association – Women’s Professional Game/Nina Farooqi)
Baroness Sue Campbell, the FA’s outgoing director of women’s football, said the governing body was exploring the possibility of exempting women’s games from the 3pm TV blackout last year to help attract regular viewers.
Under Article 48 of UEFA’s statutes, the FA bans the broadcast of matches in the UK between 2.45pm and 5.15pm on Saturdays in order to protect stadium attendances. Doucet added that while they had explored potential changes to the 3pm blackout, “that’s not an option at this time.”
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Premier League chief executive Richard Masters told a government committee in January that Premier League clubs had agreed to provide loans to WPLL. The amount, worth £20 million ($25.2 million), is expected to be interest-free and will only need to be repaid when annual revenue reaches £100 million.
“The current amount of capital is appropriate based on the size of the business,” Doucet explained. “This is a loan. We do have to pay it back at some point.
“It’s a long-term loan with favorable terms. It’s interest-free, super positive, and it comes with a partnership agreement. So we either have to hit a certain income threshold to pay it off or there’s a time frame, but it’s a The longer time frame gives us room to grow.
Speaking on the topic of increasing revenue and attracting investors, Doucet stressed the importance of long-term vision, highlighting the example of American businesswoman Kang following her acquisition of London City Lions in December.
Investments from the owners of Washington Spirit and Lyon Women have led to a busy summer transfer window for the Championship side, with signings including Sweden international Kosova Aslani and Sheffield United young striker Isobel · Goodwin. The club has also purchased and is renovating new training facilities.
“Depending on the stage of maturity of the business we are at, the capital and risk profile of investing in the women’s game today is different than the capital and risk profile of investing in the men’s game today,” Doucet added.
“We have to find investors here who believe in the concept of community purpose, believe in the growth story based on future business metrics, but have the ability to invest before revenue. Our biggest challenge is a revenue challenge, not necessarily a cost challenge.
“To be a professional club, it costs money to provide the right infrastructure. People like Michel Kahn or some of the bigger clubs now, their owners are investing and they believe in the future. They’re like: We Knowing that this is a ten-year journey is not like an immediate payoff in two or three years.
“Our job now is to maximize value at every stage of the growth journey. From a value perspective, the market will determine what we can extract and what we can maximize. Our job is to be obsessed with that every day.
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(Tom Doulat/Getty Images)
