Women's Super League expanding to 14 teams from 2026
A proposal put forward by Nikki Doucet, chief executive of Women's Professional Leagues Limited, was voted through at Monday's WSL Football shareholders meeting.
It requires the approval of the Football Association board but, if it gets the green light, 14 teams will compete in the women's top flight from next year and the 2025-26 campaign will conclude with a relegation/promotion play-off.
"Over the past few months, WSL Football has led a thorough and robust, consultative process backed by research and analysis which explored multiple options that could drive the game forward and help it reach its potential," Doucet said.
"Our priority was to find a route that would benefit the whole women's game pyramid, and we believe this next evolution of women's professional football will raise minimum standards, create distinction and incentivise investment across the board.
"Subject to the approval from the FA board, expanding the BWSL to 14 teams will stimulate movement between leagues and through the pyramid which increases opportunities.
"The introduction of a promotion/relegation play-off creates distinction for the women's game and introduces a high-profile, high-stakes match."
If the expansion from a 12-team WSL to 14 gets FA approval, it offers three Women's Championship clubs the chance to gain promotion during the 2025-26 campaign.
The top two of the Championship will go up automatically and the third-placed side will take on the team which finished bottom of the WSL in a play-off.
The Championship will continue as a 12-team league with "additional promotion opportunities" from the FA Women's National League Northern and Southern Premier Divisions at the end of the 2025-26 campaign.
"The method for these promotions, and any impact further down the pyramid, will be confirmed by The FA in due course," a WSL Football statement read.
It means from the 2026-27 season, the 14th-placed team would be relegated and replaced by the winner of the Championship.
A relegation/promotion play-off between the 13th-placed club in the WSL and Championship runner-up would then determine the final place in the top-flight.
There were 14 Republic of Ireland internationals with WSL clubs last season and 24 in the Championship.
Meanwhile, women's football is set to become one of the world's top five sports by 2030, according to a report by Nielsen Sports (in collaboration with PepsiCo), with a global fan base projected to grow by 38% to reach more than 800 million people.
Some 60% of those fans are projected to be women, according to their report 'Undervalued to Unstoppable' released on Tuesday, creating one of the few sports which is followed by more females than males.
The global broadcast audience is also expected to rise by 30% across major tournaments by 2030.
While sponsorship deals tripled for the 2023 Women's World Cup from the 2019 tournament, only a small fraction of global sponsorship budgets are allocated to women's football, according to the study.
It presents a significant opportunity, the researchers argued, considering women are projected to drive over 75% of household purchasing decisions by 2028.
Women's football is already one of the top 10 most followed sports globally, and momentum appears to be building. Viewership of the U.S.-based National Women's Soccer League championship last year had an 18% increase over the previous year.
Disney+ announced last month a deal to broadcast Women's Champions League matches across Europe, while Alexis Ohanian, the Reddit co-founder and husband of tennis great Serena Williams, acquired a stake in Women's Super League champions Chelsea that same month.
Deloitte recently reported that WSL revenues climbed by 34% during a record-breaking 2023-24 season, and are forecasting WSL clubs' total revenue will reach a record £100 million pounds (€117 million) in the 2025-26 season.
WSL attendance, however, has dropped after it peaked in 2023-24 on the heels of the 2023 Women's World Cup, but is expected to have another rise after the European Championship next month in Switzerland.
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