Women’s football is riding the crest of a wave right now, with interest in the game at an all-time high. A recent match between Barcelona and Real Madrid attracted over 91,000 fans, smashing the previous attendance record.
Alongside several recent tournaments, the Women’s Super League (WSL) has been a key driver of this growth. Since turning fully professional in 2018, the league has gone from strength to strength.
A major TV rights package with Sky Sports and the BBC is another sign of progress, but that’s not the only place to watch the WSL this season. Here’s everything you need to know, including if you’re based outside the UK.
Which Women’s Super League games are on TV this weekend?
Every WSL team is in action this weekend, with all six games available to watch live. Here are the details, including UK kick-off time and relevant broadcaster:
Fri 1 Apr
- Birmingham vs Everton – KO 7pm – The FA Player
Sat 2 Apr
- West Ham vs Man City – KO 11.30am – Sky Sports Premier League
Sun 3 Apr
- Man Utd vs Brighton – KO 12.00 – The FA Player/MUTV
- Leicester vs Arsenal – KO 12.30 – BBC Two/iPlayer
- Tottenham vs Aston Villa – KO 14.00 – The FA Player
- Chelsea vs Reading – KO 18.45 – Sky Sports Main Event/Football/Premier League/Ultra HD
How to watch the Women’s Super League on Sky Sports
This is the first season of Sky’s three-year deal with the WSL. For the 2021-22 season, the broadcaster has committed to showing at least 35 matches.
Packages start at £46 per month for 18 months, or from £25 extra per month if you already have a Sky TV subscription. This will also provide access while out and about via Sky Go.
However, if you sign up to Sky Q with a Sky Sports package, you can also watch in HDR quality. Learn more in our separate guide: How to get HDR on Sky Q
How to watch the Women’s Super League on Now
If you don’t want to commit to a Sky contract and satellite dish on your house, that’s not a problem. Sky has its Now streaming service as an alternative option.
Now is available on a wide range of devices including smartphones and games consoles and now offers HD quality if you buy the Now Boost option.
A Day Pass provides 24 hours of access and starts at £11.98 – this is great for one-off occasions. However, it’s going to make much more sense to get the Month Pass if you plan to watch every weekend – this is available for £33.99 per month. Adding support for 1080p 50fps video, removing ads and letting you stream on three devices at the same time (usually just two) is an extra £5 per month via Now Boost.
Click here to view Now’s Sky Sports Pass packages.
How to watch the Women’s Super League on the BBC
Unlike many other broadcasters, you don’t need a subscription to watch the BBC. But you will need to pay for a TV licence, whether you’re watching live or via BBC iPlayer. It currently costs £159 per household or business – learn more in our separate guide to the UK TV licence.
Once that’s taken care of, there are lots of options available to you. The first is simply direct on your TV, with almost all Sky, Virgin, Freeview and Freesat boxes including BBC channels by default.
You can also use BBC iPlayer across all your devices, while the WSL is also available to watch via the BBC Sport website when games are taking place.
How to watch the Women’s Super League on the FA Player
The FA Player is a free service, allowing you to watch selected live games and on-demand content. To get started, just head to the FA website and create an account or log in.
Like many other services, there are also apps available for iOS and Android.
Can you watch the Women’s Super League outside the UK?
Yes, and there are two options available to you.
The first is simply to watch via your local broadcaster. This only applies if you’re in Australia (Optus Sport), Canada (Sportsnet), Central America, Mexico, Dominican Republic (all Sky Sports), Germany, Italy (both DAZN), New Zealand (Spark Sport), Scandinavia (Nent) or the United States (NBC Sports, ATA Football or PrendeTV.
If you’re based elsewhere or would rather use an existing UK account or subscription, there is an alternative. It involves using a VPN, which helps you ‘appear’ in another country by giving you a new IP address.
Our top pick is NordVPN, which offers a good blend of security features, ease of use and value for money. There are plenty of alternatives in our best VPN chart, but make sure they unblock BBC iPlayer – that’s a common issue for some services.
Interested in men’s football too? Here’s how to watch the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup.
