WOMEN’S Super League clubs’ earnings grew by 60 per cent in the 2021-22 season, according to the financial audit firm Deloitte.
Clubs in the women’s game’s top division produced a combined revenue of £32million which is a £12m rise on the previous term.
GettyMatchday revenue accounted for nearly 10 per cent of WSL clubs’ combined earnings[/caption]
AFPBroadcast and commercial deals are said to have helped boost revenue for WSL clubs[/caption]
Analysis by Deloitte’s sports business group says the increase has been driven by the WSL’s broadcast and commercial deals.
They found bigger revenues had helped top tier clubs reduce their aggregate wages-to-revenue ratio from 92 to 78 per cent.
And salaries rose to a combined total of £25m which is 30 per cent higher than they were in the 2020-21 season.
However WSL sides made a pre-tax loss of £14m according to Deloitte.
The new broadcast deal for the women’s top tier in the 2020-21 season is said to have played a significant part in boosted revenue for WSL and Women’s Champions clubs.
The deal, which has seen WSL games aired on Sky Sports and the BBC, accounts for £8m a year.
WSL clubs received a 75 per cent portion of broadcast distributions while Championship clubs received 25%,
This included an equal fixed amount per team, plus a share based on league position finish.
And matchday takings in the women’s top-flight accounted for almost 10 per cent of WSL sides’ combined earnings with an average league attendance of 1,923.
Zoe Burton, director in Deloitte’s Sports Business Group, said: “The women’s game achieved significant leaps in revenue in the 2021/22 season.
“The Lionesses’ success at the Uefa Women’s Euros is pinned as an inflexion point for the popularity of women’s football.
PADeloitte believes clubs with women’s teams can look to target supporters of these sides with tailored products[/caption]
“It’s telling that even before this historic win revenues had begun to grow in the Women’s Super League.
“We have already seen new records set for attendance, viewership and the value of commercial partnerships in the 2022/23 season.
“We are now reaching the point where clubs can seek to maximise the value associated with the women’s game by unbundling revenue streams to target a unique fanbase.”