WSL Analytics

📺 Eyes on the Screen: The WSL's Visibility Paradox Coverage rose 76%. Reach fell 10%. More WSL football was available than ever. Fewer people watched it. But those who did, stayed longer than at any point in the league's history. Average watch time hit a record 2h 9m. Sky doubled its live matches and built habit. The BBC showed fewer games but still delivered every single one of the season's 10 biggest audiences. Instagram powered a record 669M digital views. YouTube lost the live matches that made it and fell 48%. The WSL has built depth. Can it rebuild breadth without free-to-air prominence? Full analysis 👇 wslanalytics.com/p/wsl-broadcas… #WSL #BarclaysWSL #WomensFootball #SportsBroadcasting

It's the big scheduling question heading into the new season. With two extra teams, there's an extra fixture to place every weekend, and the noon slot already felt stretched this season. My guess is that the noon schedule will ease slightly. The stadium numbers raised concerns earlier on, the TV data has now confirmed it, and as you say, season ticket holders have felt it too. It's rare that the broadcast and match-going audience are aligned on a problem. Hopefully the schedulers take that seriously.

@WSLAnalytics With 2 extra WSL teams will be very interesting to see where the 'extra match' gets scheduled each weekend (both day/time & paywall/fta)...and will the majority (2/3rds) of fixtures at 12 noon Sundays remain or adjust up/down at all (more than anecdotally affected season tickets)

📺 Eyes on the Screen: The WSL's Visibility Paradox Coverage rose 76%. Reach fell 10%. More WSL football was available than ever. Fewer people watched it. But those who did, stayed longer than at any point in the league's history. Average watch time hit a record 2h 9m. Sky doubled its live matches and built habit. The BBC showed fewer games but still delivered every single one of the season's 10 biggest audiences. Instagram powered a record 669M digital views. YouTube lost the live matches that made it and fell 48%. The WSL has built depth. Can it rebuild breadth without free-to-air prominence? Full analysis 👇 wslanalytics.com/p/wsl-broadcas… #WSL #BarclaysWSL #WomensFootball #SportsBroadcasting

Our WSL 2025–26 Review is out: Chelsea Dynasty Ends, the Hierarchy Holds. City changed the name on the trophy, but the wider structure of the league barely moved. A few numbers stood out: 18/18 top-three finishes since 2020–21 have gone to Chelsea, Arsenal, Man City or Man United. 23/24 top-four places have gone to the same four clubs. 44–50 points has been the third-place range every season in the 12-team era. City improved by +12 points, Chelsea dropped by −11, and Arsenal lost just once but still finished four points short. My main takeaway: Chelsea’s dynasty is over, but the WSL does not yet have a new hierarchy. Do you think City can now build their own era, or will the title race become more open? Full deep dive below 👇 wslanalytics.com/p/chelsea-dyna… #WSL #BarclaysWSL #WomensFootball #FootballData #MCWFC #CFCW #AWFC

@BaldryNicola Glad to have you on board! ❤️

@WSLAnalytics So interesting! Love data, and womens football, glad I found this account! 🤎

Inside the Stands: WSL Attendance Trends 2025–26 is out. The WSL drew 902,981 spectators this season – up 2.7% year on year. But the deeper story is more complicated: Arsenal alone accounted for 41.2% of total league attendance, and without Arsenal, the rest of the league actually fell again. There were still positive signs – no sub-1,000 attendances, more 10,000+ matches, and Everton’s stadium move made a major difference. But the big question remains: Is the WSL building a stronger attendance base – or becoming too dependent on Arsenal and big-stadium fixtures? Full deep dive below 👇 wslanalytics.com/p/inside-the-s… #WSL #WomensFootball #BarclaysWSL #AWFC #FootballData

Yes – these are total attendance figures, so away fans are included. And you’re right about the Arsenal effect. Villa are up 2,825 overall, but the Arsenal fixture alone was up 3,354 year on year. If you remove the Arsenal game from both seasons, then Villa are slightly down across the other home fixtures.

@WSLAnalytics Is this total attendance figures, so including away allocation? If so we could break down some growths to a fall. Eg aston villa nearly 3k up but the Arsenal match was nearly 5k over average attendance which would make us actually 3k down on last year without Arsenal.

@Kennedyfre50981 @FrankSerpico10 @timstillman_ Truly impressive. Add in the rearranged midweek fixtures and the run of games in quick succession, and it makes the numbers even stronger. The fanbase has been outstanding. This feels more like Arsenal’s attendance floor now.

@FrankSerpico10 @WSLAnalytics @timstillman_ That's even more impressive considering they draw this amount of crowd week in week out. By far the face of the league.

@FinnPadmore @pgklee @miawfc11 Definitely. Having so many London clubs could help boost away followings and crossover attendance – but only if the scheduling is fan-friendly enough.

@pgklee @WSLAnalytics @miawfc11 Yeah I wonder if having so many London clubs next season, while a bit of a ball ache for those of us not there, will help boost away attendance across all of them.

@scooper00123 No doubt about that. Arsenal are setting the standard.

It's very obvious that Arsenal are the best supported club in the UK.

@sergeta Couldn’t agree more. Arsenal and Barcelona are in a league of their own on this front.

Hoje as únicas equipes femininas na Europa que de fato mobilizam suas torcidas pelo continente são Barcelona e Arsenal. Estava em Lisboa ano passado na final da Champions e dava pra dizer que no mínimo a torcida estava meio a meio. Talvez até um pouco mais pro Arsenal.

@MattWalby1 True. I was having this conversation earlier – the next big bump may need something major again, like a Lionesses World Cup win or England hosting another major tournament. It does feel like the league has plateaued a bit after the Euro 2022 surge.

@WSLAnalytics Will give the full post a read this evening but on first impressions it concerns me that level of reliance on one team isn’t sustainable beyond the short term. 2.7% increase is better than no increase but I don’t know where the next bump comes from as Lionesses bounce is gone.

@RobNorwood6 That’s a good point. Some of the viewing numbers released earlier in the season didn’t look especially strong either, so it’s worth asking whether the midday Sunday slot is hurting both in-stadium attendance and TV/online audiences.

@WSLAnalytics If attendances are being impacted by midday kickoffs, is it possible to see if TV/online viewing figures have increased? If physical attendance and viewing figures have both dropped, it would suggest midday on Sundays simply doesn't work for people.

@dods86 @JacquiOatley A 3pm blackout lift for the WSL would be interesting. If the issue is accessibility and awkward kick-off times, surely that’s one solution worth seriously exploring.

@WSLAnalytics @JacquiOatley Kick off times were frustrating this year. Would love to see a 3pm blackout lift for WSL.

@timstillman_ @Reg791 @HK22AFC That would make sense. With London Stadium being multi-purpose, there are also athletics and other event demands to factor in. If there’s a cap, then it explains why simply “playing at London Stadium” isn’t as straightforward as it looks from the outside.

@WSLAnalytics @Reg791 @HK22AFC There is also, I believe, a cap on how many games can happen there a season.

@Reg791 @HK22AFC @timstillman_ That’s interesting. Is the dislike mainly about the location, the stadium layout, or the overall matchday atmosphere? From the outside, it feels like an obvious big-stage option, but I know West Ham fans have strong feelings about London Stadium.

@WSLAnalytics @HK22AFC @timstillman_ West Ham fans hate going to that stadium for Men's games. Doubt you'll get many for a struggling Women's team!

Yes – if you compare the Emirates fixtures like-for-like across both seasons, there was a slight drop. But across the season as a whole, Arsenal’s aggregate attendance still went up. That’s why I think this is starting to look more like Arsenal’s new floor, rather than the ceiling.

so funny considering our numbers have dropped massively since last season 😭😭

@avwfclionesses It’s tough when the work is going in behind the scenes but the results don’t show it. Villa have shown they can mix it with the top clubs on their day. The challenge has been consistency – especially against the teams around them in the table.

@WSLAnalytics The MD is doing a lot of work behind the scenes but when the team performs so badly she’s really up against it.

I can’t believe Villa’s attendances have increased because it doesn’t feel like it

@Kingwolf84 They’ve had a positive impact. Not Bristol 2023–24 levels, but better than many probably expected for a newly promoted independent club with a smaller ground and no men’s team fanbase to lean on. Given the ownership ambition, there’s definitely room for that number to grow.

@WSLAnalytics Wonder how LCL who don't have a naturally large fan base to draw on impacts the figures?

Agree! Liverpool started the season really badly, and that ripple effect probably carried through the rest of the campaign. Spurs really is the strange one for me. Not staging the NLD at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is questionable, because that fixture is guaranteed to draw a big crowd.

Drop in Liverpool kinda understandable due to their performance but united with UWCL not drawing higher attendance is strange, and Chelsea? Spurs really should play NLD in their bowl to achieve high attendance. Leyton is tiny!

@Jolomoco At this point, other clubs need to send interns to Arsenal to study how they keep pulling this off year after year.

Arsenal Women account for 41.2% of WSL attendance in 25/26. Very proud of the culture & passion we've built together ❤️⚪ Next season, let's make it a challenge to go much further, and drive this team to historic scenes such as the men's we've seen this glorious week 💪🏼

Yes, it definitely played a big part, but it doesn’t explain everything. Some clubs still didn’t do enough. Attendances also dropped for some games played during the men’s international window, where timing should have been less of an issue. Scheduling matters, but club-level promotion still matters too.

@WSLAnalytics I think the schedule and switch to mostly Sunday 12 noon kickoffs (driven by Sky Sports' new contract) probably depressed attendance this season.