WSL considers borrowing tens of millions to accelerate growth plans | OneFootball

The Women’s Super League is considering borrowing tens of millions of pounds in an attempt to accelerate the growth of the competition. The WSL board has commissioned the investment bank Goldman Sachs and the accountancy firm Deloitte to examine ways of raising funding and a loan is the preferred option at this stage.

The borrowing would be used to increase central payments and prize money awarded to clubs, with the aim of stimulating further growth in sponsorship, broadcast deals and club-led investment, as a result of creating a better product.

Sources involved in the discussions said the WSL wants to lead investment in women’s football rather than leave it to the clubs, whose financial commitment to the sport remains patchy, even in the top flight.

Manchester United’s annual wage bill of about £3.5m is little over half that of Arsenal and Chelsea despite the parent club bringing in record revenues of £660m last season,. Investment at established WSL clubs such as West Ham and Leicester has been dwarfed by that at promoted London City Lionesses, a stand-alone women’s club owned by the US billionaire Michele Kang.

There is a determination at the WSL to capitalise on England’s second successive European Championship win last summer, and the emergence of household names such as Hannah Hampton and Michelle Agyemang.

The FA rejected an offer of around £150m from the private equity company Bridgepoint to buy a stake in the WSL five years ago when it was still in charge of running all women’s football in the UK. The governing body instead created a new independent company – Women’s Professional Leagues Limited, which was rebranded to WSL Football in May – to take control of the top two divisions of club football, the WSL and WSL2, from last year.

WPLL received a £20m interest-free loan from the Premier League to assist with start-up and operational costs in August 2024, which included creating a new 40-strong staff from scratch. It is now looking at ways of turbo-charging its growth through bringing in outside funding.

While it is anticipated that Goldman Sachs and Deloitte will bring in further offers to buy a stake in the competition from private equity firms, the WSL is reluctant to cede control or sacrifice future commercial payments. Premiership Rugby sold a 27% stake in the commercial rights to their competition to CVC Capital Partners six years ago, with the consensus within the sport being that the windfall was quickly squandered by the clubs.

A source with knowledge of the discussions said “The WSL is undertaking a financial review, but this is not about selling a stake in the competition. That is highly unlikely.

“But the league needs to grow, and the clubs need money. If the WSL takes in more cash the clubs would get a bigger distribution to invest, the league gets better, and the TV deals and fan numbers go up. And then the league generates more money. It’s a virtuous circle.”

The WSL could secure the borrowing against future commercial and broadcast income, which has increased significantly in recent years. A new £65m, five-year TV deal with Sky Sports started this season, while it has also signed improved contracts with the title sponsors Barclays and Nike.

A WSL spokesperson said: “Like any responsible business with ambition, WSL Football is working in collaboration with member clubs to explore long-term growth strategies that can accelerate the positive momentum within the women’s game.”

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