The Women’s Super League will bring back Sunday evening kick-offs this season as part of an overhaul of its broadcast strategy after indifferent viewing figures last season.
The Guardian has learned that the WSL will offer six different TV slots to broadcasters after releasing its fixtures for the 2026-27 campaign later on Thursday in a significant change from last season, when the majority of televised games took place on Saturday and Sunday lunchtimes.
Sky Sports, which has the live rights for 163 of the WSL’s 182 games, retains the Saturday 12.45pm slot and noon on Sundays, but has also been given new regular kick-off times of 7pm on Friday and 6pm on Sunday.
The BBC will broadcast 19 matches live at 12.30pm on Saturdays and 2.30pm on Sundays.
The WSL’s new strategy is to spread games across the weekend after scheduling most fixtures at noon on Sundays last season, with multiple televised matches kicking off at the same time in a move that diluted the audience.
The change this season follows a lengthy consultation with broadcasters, clubs and fans, with the WSL seeking a schedule that maximises its TV audience and matchday attendances.
The Sunday evening kick-off was dropped last season after negative feedback from clubs and fans, as attendances were generally poor, but it was popular with broadcasters and was Sky’s best performing slot in 2024-25 with an average audience of 144,000.
In an attempt to balance these competing interests, the Sunday evening game will mostly be brought forward 45 minutes to 6pm – with some changes likely to avoid clashes with the 4.30pm Premier League games – while the WSL will attempt to schedule derbies for that slot and Friday evenings where possible.
The Guardian revealed last December that the WSL was considering further changes to its kick-off times this season after concern from Sky in particular at some of their viewing figures for lunchtime games.
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An average audience of 59,000 watched Sky’s live coverage of Arsenal’s home win over Liverpool that month, even fewer than the 71,000 people who watched Arsenal v Chelsea on Sky in the same noon kick-off slot the previous month.
As well as struggling to attract a casual audience the decision to schedule up to four of the six weekly matches at the same time proved unpopular with the most committed WSL fans, who were unable to watch multiple matches live.
Sky are paying the vast majority of the joint £65m broadcast deal with the BBC, who are believed to contribute around £8m in rights fees, so have a significant say but the WSL has consulted widely.
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