EXCLUSIVE: Women’s Super League relaunch in 2024 could be under THREAT with Premier League teams at odds with FA’s £25m funding plan
- Ways to fund the Women’s Super League have sparked fierce debate recently
- The Premier League’s 20 men’s teams disagree on the best way forward
- Listen to the latest episode of the Mail Sport podcast It all starts
Premier League clubs could thwart a proposed relaunch of the Women’s Super League next year due to disagreements over funding.
Mailsport has learned that the FA has asked the top 20 male clubs to provide around £25 million to create an enhanced competition for the 2024-2025 season, but a majority of them are yet to agree.
The FA’s plans will be timed to coincide with the start of the next WSL TV deal and build on the success of England’s Lionesses, who have fueled a huge increase in interest in women’s football with this summer’s World Cup to reach the final after winning last year’s European Championships. Championship.
Sources with knowledge of the negotiations said this Mailsport that while a ‘significant minority’ of Premier League clubs support the FA’s proposal, they somehow fall short of the fourteen votes needed to implement the changes.
The FA are said to be concerned that they are running out of time to complete the relaunch next year and have set a deadline of December to secure the funding.
The Football Association is proposing a relaunch of the Women’s Super League next year
Under their proposal, Premier League clubs would become owners of the WSL, although the FA would retain a so-called golden share, giving them a veto over key decisions.
The Premier League remains interested in taking over the WSL but has yet to formally submit the proposals to the clubs, who are divided over whether this is the right time.
The FA’s proposal would see start-up costs come from the Premier League’s central funds, although there is significant disagreement among clubs over whether each should contribute and how much each should put in.
The split between the clubs is not thought to replicate the traditional Big Six versus the other 14 divisions. To complicate matters further, only half of the Premier League currently have clubs in the twelve-team WSL and many of their women’s teams are much lower in the pyramid, with Brentford playing in the sixth tier for example.
Twenty Premier League clubs are being sought for £25m in funding, but not all agree
The FA launched the WSL in 2013 and has been exploring ways to increase investment in the league for several years, including talks about a possible £150m sale to a US private equity firm, as revealed by Mail Sport last summer.
Top clubs such as Chelsea and Manchester City were interested in exploring the private equity option, but the FA concluded that the Premier League is best placed to lead the competition given their resources and expertise in areas such as commercial growth and marketing.
The FA is confident that a relaunch that allows greater investment in players, development and facilities is needed as soon as possible, especially with the current TV deal with Sky Sports and the BBC set to expire next summer.
The existing deal is worth around £8million a year, but they are hoping for much more next time after the record viewing figures the Lionesses attracted. A peak audience of 14 million watched England’s World Cup final against Spain last month, making it the second most-watched TV event of the past 12 months after the King’s coronation.
The FA and the Premier League declined to comment.
The success of the Lionesses at the European Championships and the World Cup has increased the profile of women’s football