W-Sport, the women’s sport-centric TV channel, has renewed its rights deal with English soccer's top-tier Women's Super League (WSL) through the 2025-26 campaign. This extension will allow W-Sport to broadcast multiple live WSL games each week in over 80 countries.
The coverage will be available via both broadcast and digital partners across regions including Europe, sub-Saharan Africa, and Asia. In Europe, countries such as France, Portugal, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Turkey will have access to these broadcasts. Asian markets include Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand.
In sub-Saharan Africa coverage is set to be available in over 30 territories via regional partners like Canal Plus - a pay-TV French-language heavyweight. Pan-African deals with SuperSport and StarTimes are also in place.
Upcoming games on W-Sport
This coming weekend promises exciting action with three major games scheduled: Manchester United v defending champions Chelsea on Friday; Manchester City v Arsenal on Saturday; Tottenham v Brighton on Sunday.
In addition to the WSL matches being aired by W-Sport includes competitions from Germany's Frauen-Bundesliga league; Serie A Women (Italy); Gainbridge Super League in the US among others. The channel also covers other women's sports such as netball; basketball; athletics; equestrian events; triathlon etc., thereby providing a comprehensive platform for women’s sports enthusiasts worldwide.
Kelly Butler, W-Sport's chief executive, said:
"The Women's Super League features some of the most recognized players and competitive clubs in world football. We're proud to offer fans consistent, high-quality access to the league each week."
Recent developments at W-Sport
Late September saw further expansion of this network into Asia through an agreement to launch in Singapore partnering with state-owned media company Mediacorp. This partnership allows for an over-the-top offering carried by Mediacorp’s Mewatch streaming service as a paid add-on feature.
W-sport has been making strides in Asia, securing carriage deals with telecoms heavyweight AIS in Thailand and Astro in Malaysia. The network was initially launched by Mickey O’Rourke, co-founder and chief executive of Premier Sports UK and Irish pay-TV channels, alongside Butler - a former senior vice-president at Fox Sports. In related news, last week saw the announcement of a highlights deal between WSL and German sports-focused broadcaster Sportdigital. This deal will allow Sportdigital to showcase at least three live WSL games per week via its pay-TV channel - Sportdigital1+.
Through this agreement, Sportdigital also gains rights to the secondary WSL 2 division and the Women’s League Cup knockout tournament. As it stands now, Chelsea is leading the 12-team WSL having played only four games so far.
