What's going on with falling WSL attendances?

BBC News

4 hours ago

Average attendances in the Women's Super League dropped by 10% last season compared with the previous campaign.According to Deloitte's Sports Business Group, which highlighted the drop in a report released on Monday, "this has been put down to a lack of international football drawing attention to the domestic game".BBC research found the 12 WSL clubs in total averaged 7,366 in 2023-24, compared with 6,662 in 2024-25 - an average decrease of 704.So which clubs have been affected the most, which clubs are bucking the trend and what else might be behind the numbers? BBC Sport takes a closer look.
Why has there been a drop?
One of the main reasons behind the fall in attendances last season was the relegation of Bristol City in 2023-24.Despite losing all their homes games as they made an immediate return to the Championship, they were backed by an impressive home support at Ashton Gate, which they shared with the men's team.They had the fifth-highest average home attendance in the WSL - 6,974 - behind the big four of Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester City and Manchester United.A crowd of 8,749 watched their relegation-confirming loss to Manchester City, while a bumper 14,138 attendance saw a 2-0 defeat by Manchester United in November.Bristol City were replaced in 2024-25 by top-flight newcomers Crystal Palace, who averaged 1,779 across the season - 5,195 fewer than the club they replaced.Palace played the majority of their games at the VBS Community Stadium, which they shared with men's National League club Sutton United.They played two matches at Selhurst Park, home of the men's team, and had a season-high attendance of 5,003 for their opening home game with Chelsea, which they lost 7-0. Their lowest figure of the campaign was 502 for the 1-1 draw with Everton in November.
Which clubs have had falls in attendances?
Of the 11 remaining WSL clubs, five had their average attendance drop between 2023-24 and 2024-25 - Arsenal, Aston Villa, Everton, Manchester City and Manchester United, which includes three of the top four.Aston Villa and Manchester United had by far the biggest drop-offs, with both clubs' attendances falling by 33%.For Villa, the move to playing all their WSL games at Villa Park - compared with only five the season before - does not look to have paid off, though they also spent the majority of the recent campaign in a relegation battle.Manchester United played the same number of WSL games at Old Trafford in both seasons - two - and in 2023-24 those games attracted attendances of 43,615 and 28,737. In 2024-25 it was 8,761 and 31,465, with the former in their opening game against West Ham.However, they also had a fall in attendances at their main stadium, Leigh Sports Village, with an average of 4,562 last season compared with 5,353 the season before.Manchester City had the next biggest decrease of 8% - despite going from one to three matches at their bigger Etihad Stadium - followed by Everton at 5.5% and Arsenal at 4%.Arsenal, considered a success story in the league for the way they have managed to attract record numbers to Emirates Stadium, played nine of their 11 home games there last season compared with six the previous one.Yet while they did not hit the heights of the previous campaign when they broke the WSL attendance record and had two sell-outs at the Emirates, the figures were still impressive, with five matches attracting more than 35,000.All but one of their matches surpassed 20,000 - that was the 5,539 who turned out for their midweek match with Leicester in April, which was rescheduled for an evening kick-off at short notice because of their Champions League involvement.
Which clubs had their attendances increase?
Liverpool showed remarkable growth from the previous season, with their attendance increasing by 54%, boosted by holding three games at Anfield compared with one the previous year.Building on their impressive fourth-place WSL finish in 2023-24, their average gate grew from 4,550 to 7,023 last season, with a season-high 17,484 turning out for their match with Manchester City in October.The only other club to hit double figures for percentage growth were Tottenham, who despite finishing second from bottom last season, had their average attendance increase by 24% - from 4,317 to 5,332. They took their tally of matches at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium from two to three.The other clubs to see growth were Leicester (6%), who played all their games at King Power Stadium which they share with the men's team, Brighton (3%), West Ham (1%) and WSL winners Chelsea (1%).
How important are Lionesses to WSL attendances?
All WSL clubs experienced a significant attendance boost in 2022-23 off the back of Euro 2022, where England lifted their first major women's trophy in front of record crowds.The majority of clubs also had increases in 2023-24, which followed England's run to the Women's World Cup final in Australia.But, after Great Britain failed to qualify for the 2024 Olympics, last season was the first time in three years that the WSL campaign did not benefit from following an international tournament where there had been home success.Yet it is also important to look at the competitiveness of the league. Chelsea were odds-on title favourites in 2024-25 from an early stage - after it went down to the wire in 2023-24 - which might have affected the appetite of fans from other top-four clubs, who all faced their own struggles during the campaign.Speaking about attendances on Radio 5 Live's Women's Football Weekly podcast last month, WSL Football chief executive Nikki Doucet said: "I think a lot of times it depends on kick-off times. A lot of times it depends on are we in a men's international break and how are we maximising those moments or not?"It depends which clubs are really building that community, and some are on a further journey than others."Each club, and their fanbase, is sort of unique and I think everyone's testing different things and seeing what works, what doesn't."
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