“When we go to market, we’ll include both WSL and Championship broadcast rights,”

• by Lauren Casey
• Anna Gordon/FT - PHOTO
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Nikki Doucet, CEO of the English women's professional football game, believes moving the Women's Super League (WSL) and Championship streaming platform to YouTube will expand the sport's audience.

She confirmed there's a "long-term" plan to repay the £20 million loan from the Premier League to Women’s Professional Leagues Limited (WPLL), and her focus is finding more investors like Michele Kang of London City Lionesses to help grow clubs and increase revenue.

For the 2024-25 season, YouTube will be the main streaming platform for all non-televised WSL matches and select Championship games, replacing the FA Player. Doucet said this shift can highlight the leagues' value ahead of the next media rights auction.

“When we go to market, we’ll include both WSL and Championship broadcast rights,” she said. “55,000 people watched the London City Lionesses vs Newcastle United match on YouTube, compared to a peak of 4,500 on the FA Player last year.”

Doucet emphasized the importance of growing the Championship’s profile.

The investment in YouTube, she explained, aims to gather more data on viewership, engagement, and reach, helping build a stronger case when renegotiating media rights for the 2025-26 season.

Doucet also discussed the 3pm broadcast blackout, which bars UK games from being aired between 2.45pm and 5.15pm on Saturdays. Despite reviewing possible changes, she confirmed, “At the moment, it’s not an option.”

Premier League chief executive Richard Masters revealed in January that the £20 million loan from Premier League clubs to WPLL is interest-free and will only need repayment once the WPLL hits £100 million in annual revenue.

Doucet said, “Given the business’s size, it’s the right amount of capital. It’s a long-term loan on favorable terms. We need space to grow, so there’s a time frame, but we’ll repay it once we hit certain revenue targets.”

On revenue growth and attracting investors, Doucet pointed to Michele Kang, who took over London City Lionesses in December, as a model. Kang’s investment led to several high-profile signings and the acquisition of a new training facility.

“To invest in women’s football today requires a different kind of risk than men’s football,” Doucet noted. “We need investors who understand that this is a long-term project. People like Michele ang get it—they see it as a ten-year journey, not something with quick returns.”

Doucet stressed the importance of maximizing value at each stage of this growth.

“Our biggest challenge is revenue, not costs. Running a professional club and providing the right infrastructure is expensive, but we have to find investors who believe in the long-term potential.

Every day, we work to maximize value and extract as much as we can from the market.”

Mandarin / 汉语

尼基·杜塞（Nikki Doucet），英格兰女子职业足球的首席执行官，相信将女子超级联赛（WSL）和锦标联赛的流媒体平台迁移至YouTube将扩展该运动的观众群体。

她确认有一个“长期”计划来偿还英超联赛对女子职业联赛有限公 司（WPLL）的2000万英镑贷款，她的重点是寻找更多像伦敦城狮子队的Michele Kang这样的投资者，以帮助俱乐部成长并增加收入。

对于2024-25赛季，YouTube将成为所有未电视直播的WSL比赛和部分锦标联赛比赛的主要流媒体平台，取代FA Player。杜塞表示，这一变化可以在下一轮媒体版权拍卖之前突显联赛的价值。

她说：“当我们进入市场时，我们会同时包括WSL和锦标联赛的转播权。伦敦城狮子队对纽卡斯尔联的比赛在YouTube上有55,000人观看，而去年FA Player的峰值仅为4,500人。”

杜塞强调了提升锦标联赛知名度的重要性。

她表示：“我们专注于以正确的方式提升锦标联赛，从市场营销和 商业角度来审视。锦标联赛的影响力越大，对每个人，包括WSL，的价值也就越高。”

她解释说，投资YouTube的目的是收集更多关于观众、参与度和覆盖范围的数据，以帮助在重新谈判2025-26赛季的媒体版权时建立更强的依据。

杜塞还讨论了3点钟的广播禁播政策，该政策禁止英国比赛在周六下午2:45到5:15之间播出。尽管审查了可能的变更，她确认：“目前，这不是一个选项。”

英超联赛首席执行官理查德·马斯特斯（Richard Masters）在1月份透露，英超俱乐部对WPLL的2000万英镑贷款是无息的，只有在WPLL年收入达到1亿英镑时才需偿还。

杜塞表示：“考虑到业务规模，这笔资金是合适的。这是一笔长期贷 款，条件优惠。我们需要空间来成长，因此有一个时间框架，但我们将 在达到一定的收入目标后偿还。”

关于收入增长和吸引投资者，杜塞以去年12月接手伦敦城狮子队 的Michele Kang为榜样。Kang的投资带来了多项高水平的签约和新训练设施的收购。

杜塞指出：“今天投资女子足球需要承担与男子足球不同的风险。我们需要那些理解这是一个长期项目的投资者。像Michele Kang这样的人明白这一点——他们将其视为一个十年的旅程，而不是短期内获得回报的项目。”

杜塞强调了在各个发展阶段最大化价值的重要性。她说：“我们最大的 挑战是收入，而不是成本。运营职业俱乐部和提供适当的基础设施成本高昂，但我们必须找到相信长期潜力的投资者。我们每天都在努力 最大化价值，并从市场中尽可能地挖掘潜力。”