Women’s Super League attracts record-breaking viewing figures on BBC and Sky Sports

Source: Sky Sports

The Women’s Super League match on Saturday November 18 which saw Chelsea defeat Liverpool by 5-1 was the most matched WSL game ever, according to the UK’s free-to-air broadcaster BBC.

The game between the current WSL champions and Liverpool was shown on BBC1, pulling an audience of 796,000 viewers and a peak of 955,000. The broadcaster also received 141,000 requests to watch the fixture via its on-demand platform, BBC iPlayer.

It beats BBC’s coverage of the Arsenal v Aston Villa game on October 16 which was the most watched of the 2023/24 season at 766k viewers.

While Sky Sports reported it saw record breaking viewing numbers during the WSL tournament, following Sunday’s Manchester derby. The Manchester City’s 3-1 win over Manchester United attracted an average of 485,000 views peaking at 589,000.

During the WSL competition the BBC will broadcast one game from each round of matches, while Sky has the rights to two games a week. Any games not shown on the BBC or Sky is available to watch for free on the FA Player.

The next WSL fixture on the BBC is Bristol City v Manchester United on November 26, followed by Arsenal v Chelsea on December 10 live on BBC1. WSL highlights will also air on the Women’s Football Show which the broadcaster describled as the WSL version of Match of the Day on Sunday nights on BBC1.