Wsl Concerned By Sky Broadcast Slots After Low Tv Audience Figures For Derby

The Women’s Super League is concerned astir nan broadcast slots allocated by its main authorities partner, Sky Sports, this play aft only 71,000 group watched televised sum of nan flagship fixture betwixt Arsenal and Chelsea this month.

The mean assemblage connected Sky Sports Main Event was 55,900 – little than nan 57,000 attendance astatine nan Emirates Stadium – pinch a further 15,100 viewers tuning successful connected Sky Sports Premier League. The corresponding fixture past play attracted an assemblage of 732,000 because it was free-to-air connected nan BBC and took spot during nan men’s world break.

Multiple sources wrong nan athletics person said nan noon Saturday kick-off clip was nan biggest facet down nan drop-off for that game, which is concerning for nan WSL fixed that astir of its TV games will footwear disconnected astatine lunchtime this season.

Under nan £65m, five-year woody pinch Sky, which has nan authorities for 118 unrecorded matches each season, noon connected Sunday has been designated arsenic nan flagship slot. Sky has besides broadcast 5 Saturday lunchtime games this season, up from 2 complete nan full of nan past campaign.

The Arsenal v Chelsea viewing figures are a immense driblet from nan WSL’s mean audiences past season, which were 337,000 connected Sky and 682,000 connected nan BBC. The discrepancy is wide attributed to nan truth that astir of Sky’s unrecorded games kicked disconnected later connected Sunday afternoons and evenings past season.

Sky has scrapped Sunday evening kick-offs because they were unpopular pinch match-going fans and families, but they did pull bully TV audiences, helped by Sky retaining nan attraction of Premier League viewers.

In nan first half of this season, 49 of 66 WSL games are noon aliases 11.55am kick-offs, a important alteration from nan 2pm Sunday slot that has traditionally been favoured by nan WSL. The earlier kick-off slots often conflict pinch inferior and grassroots games, which is believed to person had an effect connected viewing figures. The Saturday lunchtime slot is problematic for nan WSL because it is often up against a unrecorded Premier League crippled and a afloat EFL programme. Arsenal v Chelsea fought connected 8 November pinch Tottenham v Manchester United, which kicked disconnected 30 minutes earlier, and respective EFL fixtures.

The Premier League’s Tottenham v Manchester United crippled fought pinch nan WSL’s flagship Arsenal v Chelsea lucifer connected 8 November. Photograph: Matthew Childs/Action Images/Reuters

TNT Sports has nan early Saturday Premier League game, which often gains audiences of much than a million, and up to 7 EFL matches are disposable astatine nan aforesaid clip connected Sky. The main EFL crippled averages an assemblage of betwixt 200,000 and 300,000, pinch each 7 mixed usually attracting astir 500,000 viewers.

The 70,000 fig was collated by nan Broadcasters’ Audience Research Board (Barb), nan UK’s charismatic assemblage for measuring tv and streaming habits, based connected mean views of Sky’s full programme. Sky prefers to measurement views crossed 90 minutes, pinch its fig for nan crippled astir 78,000.

WSL sources said nan 70,000 assemblage was 30% up connected past season’s 2 Saturday noon kick-offs, though it was regarded arsenic disappointing fixed it was nan European champions against nan home title holders. This season’s figures for three-minute views and societal media engagement are much encouraging, showing important maturation crossed Sky and nan WSL’s channels.

The BBC has nan authorities to 21 unrecorded WSL matches this season. Its statement has besides presented scheduling challenges, pinch different premier fixture, Chelsea v Manchester United, broadcast connected BBC3 and BBC iPlayer connected a Friday evening past month.

The interest complete broadcast slots feeds into a broader problem astir nan WSL’s evident struggle to capitalise connected England’s 2nd European Championship triumph past summer. There was a important emergence successful crowds and viewing figures aft nan Lionesses’ first Euros triumph successful 2022 but early grounds suggests that has not been replicated.

The mean WSL attendance complete nan first six lucifer rounds has been 6,500, pinch a study from nan Women’s Sports Trust past period reporting a 1% diminution connected nan corresponding play past season. Arsenal are responsible for much than one-third of nan league’s summons sales.