Women’s sport-centric TV channel W-Sport has extended its rights deal covering English soccer's top-tier Women's Super League (WSL) through the 2025-26 campaign.
Via an extension unveiled today, W-Sport holds rights to the 2025-26 WSL, which started last month, in over 80 countries.
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W-Sport will air multiple live WSL games each week, as well as full match replays and highlights. This coverage will be available via both broadcast and digital partners, across regions including Europe, sub-Saharan Africa, and Asia.
Specifically, countries where coverage will be available in Europe include France, Portugal, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Turkey, while in Asia, the list of markets features Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand.
In sub-Saharan Africa, meanwhile, it will be available in over 30 territories via regional partners, including the pay-TV French-language heavyweight Canal Plus.
Pan-African deals with both SuperSport and StarTimes are also in place, meanwhile.
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By GlobalDataKelly Butler, W-Sport's chief executive, has now 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."
This coming weekend, three WSL games will be aired on W-Sport: Manchester United v defending champions Chelsea on Friday, Manchester City v Arsenal on Saturday, and Tottenham v Brighton on Sunday.
In addition to the WSL, women's soccer shown by W-Sport includes competitions and leagues such as Germany's Frauen-Bundesliga, Serie A Women (Italy), and the Gainbridge Super League in the US.
Netball, basketball, athletics, equestrian events, and triathlon are some of the other women's sports covered by W-Sport, meanwhile.
In terms of the channel's recent activity, late September saw W-Sport further its Asia-focused growth trajectory through a new agreement to launch in Singapore in partnership with the state-owned media company, Mediacorp.
Through the partnership, W-Sport is launching as an over-the-top offering in the country, carried by Mediacorp’s Mewatch streaming service as a paid add-on.
W-Sport has expanded across Asia in the past few months, most recently securing a carriage deal with telecoms heavyweight AIS in Thailand and Astro in Malaysia.
The network, which includes the first dedicated 24/7 channel entirely focused on women’s sports, was initially launched in July 2021 by Mickey O’Rourke – also the co-founder and chief executive of the Premier Sports UK and Irish pay-TV channels – alongside Butler, a former senior vice-president at Fox Sports.
For the WSL, meanwhile, last week, a highlights deal was announced with German sports-focused broadcaster Sportdigital.
That deal will see Sportdigital also showcasing at least three live WSL games per week via its pay-TV Sportdigital1+ channel.
In addition to the top-tier WSL, through the agreement, Sportdigital also gains rights to the secondary WSL 2 division and the Women’s League Cup knockout tournament.
So far, Chelsea are top of the 12-team WSL, albeit having only played four games so far.
