The Women’s Super League (WSL) recorded the biggest growth worldwide in internet search for global sports leagues and competitions in 2023, research has revealed.
The WSL registered a 258 per cent increase in search in 2023, according to Redtorch’s SportOnSearch report, which measured people’s search for sporting leagues.
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Major League Soccer (MLS) recorded the second-biggest increase with 87 per cent, while the UEFA Women’s Champions League was the fifth fastest growing search team, registering a 70 per cent increase.
The National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) also featured in the top 10 after recording a 50 per cent increase.
The Redtorch report analysed data using Google trends from 2023 and compared the results to each sport’s search topic’s previous four-year average.
The increase in WSL search coincided with a record-breaking 2023 Women’s World Cup. The tournament in Australia and New Zealand had a total attendance of 1.9million match-going fans across the 64 games, while Spain’s victory over England in the final peaked at 14.8m viewers in the UK.
Search results for the WSL increased significantly in Zambia and Ireland, two nations making their Women’s World Cup debut, while Jamaica also featured in the top 10 WSL search regions. Jamaica finished ahead of Brazil in Group F during last summer’s tournament to reach the knockout stages for the first time, and are captained by Manchester City striker Khadija “Bunny” Shaw.
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The interest generated by the World Cup, plus the growing media coverage, visibility and investment were cited as key factors contributing to the increasing search activity for the WSL.
“Driving factors were the narrative led stories and the Women’s World Cup propelling players and their personalities into the global spotlight which then resulted in growing interest in domestic leagues,” Jess Reus, head of communications and women’s sport lead at Redtorch tells The Athletic.
“Improved visibility, media coverage and financial investment are making the big impact.”
The WSL announced a landmark three-year broadcast deal with BBC and Sky Sports in 2021. The deal is up at the end of this season and NewCo, the company set to take over the running of the WSL and Women’s Championship from the 2024-25 campaign, has put the WSL television rights out to tender.
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The increased interest in the WSL was part of a trend across women’s sport. Six of the top 10 sports to record the biggest increase in search were women’s leagues and competitions, including the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) and Women’s Six Nations.
Reus believes this is not a surprise.
“There’s been an increase in investment, sponsorship and media coverage that’s seen this spike in women’s sport in particular,” she says. “It’s the support from sponsors and brands who are investing the time to promote women’s sport.”
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(Nigel French/PA Images via Getty Images)
