Barclays has been the title partner of the WSL since 2019, during which time the competition has been dominated by Chelsea. (Henry Browne/Getty Images)

English women’s soccer’s top-tier Women's Super League (WSL) competition is reportedly close to finalizing a lucrative title sponsorship extension with global bank Barclays.

The Daily Telegraph news outlet has reported that Barclays will pay as much as £9 million ($11.4 million) per season over three campaigns to continue as the title sponsor of the WSL, as well as of the second-tier Championship, from the beginning of the 2025-26 season through the end of the 2027-28 campaign.

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This would amount to as much as double the current yearly fee the league receives from Barclays for the same sponsorship rights.

Barclays has been the title sponsor of the WSL since the beginning of the 2019-20 season and the agreement was renewed for a second three-year term ahead of the 2022-23 campaign. That deal stretches to the end of 2024-25.

The first renewal, announced in December 2021, also saw Barclays extend its title sponsorship to the Championship for a fee said to be around £4 million per season, which itself was double the initial £2 million per season fee agreed for the first three years of a tie-up covering just the WSL, a testament to the growth in profile of women's soccer in the UK.

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This growth is also exemplified by the soaring attendances for the 12-team WSL, which in 2023-24 has already set a cumulative attendance record despite the fact there are still six rounds of fixtures, amounting to 36 games, to go.

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A total of 717,721 fans have attended a WSL match so far this season, with the previous record of 689,297 having been set in 2022-23.

The new record has been set in just 96 matches, compared to 2022-23’s 132-game full season.

Beyond Barclays’ top-line sponsorship of the WSL, the competition’s other major commercial partners include global sportswear giant NIKE, which has been the official ball supplier of the WSL and the Championship since 2022.