Nikki Doucet, CEO of English skilled women's football, says the move of the Women's Super League (WSL) and the championship's streaming platform to YouTube will increase the sport's reach.
Doucet also confirmed there was a “long-term” timeframe for repaying the £20 million ($25.2 million) loan given by the Premier League to the Women's Professional Leagues Limited (WPLL, formerly NewCo), and said her job was to search out more owners, akin to Michele Kang of the London City Lionesses, to take a position within the clubs and increase revenue.
The WSL and Championship YouTube channels have replaced FA Player because the divisions' primary streaming service for the 2024–25 season. All non-televised WSL matches and chosen Championship matches might be available to look at globally on the platform.
The WSL's broadcast deal was as a result of expire at the tip of last season and was renewed for an extra yr by the BBC and Sky Sports in April. Doucet said the move to YouTube could help underline the worth of each leagues when the media rights are put up for tender again next yr.
“When we go to market, we include both the WSL and the Championship (broadcast rights),” Doucet said.
“We had 55,000 people watching the game (London City Lionesses v Newcastle United) (on Sunday on YouTube). If you compare that to the FA Player. I think the highest attendance on the FA Player last year was 4,500.
“Our job now could be to make certain we get as much reach as possible, that we present the championship properly and that we deal with that. So from a marketing and industrial viewpoint we’re pondering fastidiously about what we are able to do for the championship.
“The more value we create there, the higher for everybody and for the WSL. The more reach we are able to get with the championship, get it on YouTube, attract more people, tell more stories and use our channels properly.
“We invest in the YouTube channel to make sure we get views and we can address that in the right way. And over time, we build that out to have more data that shows, this is the views, this is the engagement, this is the audience, this is the reach. And then we have the opportunity to go back to the market and see again where we can maximize the value of those points.
“Our media rights expire in 25-26 and we might be taking a look at each properties.”
Doucet was appointed CEO of the WPLL in November (The Football Association – Women's Pro Game/Nina Farooqi)
The Football Association's (FA) outgoing director of ladies's football, Baroness Sue Campbell, said last yr that the governing body was examining whether women's football might be exempted from the 3pm television blackout in an effort to attract a daily audience.
Under Article 48 of the UEFA statutes, the FA prohibits the printed of matches between 2.45pm and 5.15pm on Saturdays within the UK to guard crowds in stadiums. Doucet added that while that they had looked into possible changes to the 3pm blackout period, this was “not an option at the moment”.
GO DEEPER
The WSL deserves its own slot on television – should or not it’s exempt from the 3pm broadcast blackout?
Premier League chief executive Richard Masters told a government committee in January that Premier League clubs had given the WPLL a £20 million ($25.2 million) loan. The loan might be interest-free and is not going to be repaid until annual turnover reaches £100 million.
“Given the size of the company, this is the right amount of capital today,” Doucet explained. “It's a loan. We have to pay it back at some point.”
“It's a long-term loan on favorable terms. It's interest-free, which is super positive, and it's part of this collaboration agreement. So we either have to hit certain revenue thresholds to pay it back, or there's a time frame, but it's a longer-term time frame that gives us room to grow.”
On the topic of accelerating sales and attracting investors, Doucet stressed the importance of a long-term vision and referred to the instance of US businesswoman Kang after her takeover of the London City Lionesses in December.
The investment from the owner of Washington Spirit and Lyon Feminin has given the Championship team a busy summer window, which has seen the signings of Swedish international Kosovare Asllani and young striker Isobel Goodwin from Sheffield United, amongst others. The club has also bought a brand new training facility and is within the means of renovating it.
“Investing in women’s football today – based on the maturity stage of the company – requires a different capital and risk profile than investing in men’s football today,” added Doucet.
“We need to find investors here who believe in the concept of community purpose, in a growth story that is built on future financial numbers but has the ability to invest ahead of revenue. Our biggest challenge is the revenue challenge, not necessarily the cost challenge.
“Being knowledgeable club and providing the fitting infrastructure costs money. That's someone like Michelle Kang or a number of the greater clubs in the meanwhile, their owners are investing, they consider on this future. They say: we understand that this can be a ten-year journey. This will not be an quick return in two or three years.”
“And our job now could be to maximise value at every point in the expansion journey. The market will dictate what we are able to extract and maximize from a price perspective. And our job is to listen to that day by day.”
GO DEEPER
Kang, London City Lionesses and the promises and pitfalls of a fascinating project
image credit : www.nytimes.com