Viewing figures for Women’s Super League games streamed live on YouTube have more than trebled in the 2024/25 season.

This is the first season that WSL games not selected for TV are live streamed for free on YouTube. Until this summer, matches that were not chosen by domestic broadcasters were shown on the FA Player. The record-highest viewership in 2023/24 was Arsenal’s home game against Bristol City, bringing in 78,050 views.

But this season more than 250,000 people tuned in to watch Leicester take on Arsenal in September on YouTube, smashing the previous record for a non-TV WSL game streamed online. In total, there have been 1,576,848 live views on WSL games streamed on YouTube in just the first three match weeks of the season.

Some Women’s Championship games have also been streamed on YouTube this season, with this season’s opener between newly promoted Newcastle and London City Lionesses setting a new record for the second tier of 46,050 live views.

This boost in viewing figures for both the WSL and Championship comes at an interesting time. The Women’s Professional Leagues Limited (WPLL) have recently taken control of the top two leagues and have been locked in negotiations for the next major TV rights deal beyond 2025. If this season’s numbers show us anything, it’s that the appetite to watch women’s football is only growing.