How to watch Women’s Super League (WSL) football live

Last summer will remain etched in the memory of women’s football fans for a long time. England’s home Euros proved to be a resounding success, with the Lionesses beating Germany to win their first ever major tournament.

Alongside the crowds at Wembley Stadium, around 50 million more people watched the final on TV, more than three times that of the 2017 game. Live attendance nearly equaled the all-time record of 91 000 for a women’s match, which was established in March 2022 in a match between Barcelona and Real Madrid.

This growing popularity is believed to have spread to the Women’s Super League (WSL), the top division of club football in England. Since turning fully professional in 2018, the league has gone from strength to strength and now has a major TV rights package with Sky Sports and the BBC.

This means almost all matches will be available to watch live in the UK, but there are also several options if you’re based elsewhere. Here’s everything you need to know.

Which Women’s Super League matches are on TV this weekend?

The 2022-23 WSL season continues this weekend. All 12 teams are in action, with every match available to watch live in the UK:

Sat 21 Jan

• Man City vs Aston Villa – KO 11.30am – Sky Sports Premier League/Showcase

Sun 22 Jan

• Chelsea vs Liverpool – KO 12.30pm – BBC Two/iPlayer/Sport website
• Everton vs West Ham – KO 1pm – The FA Player
• Reading vs Man Utd – KO 2pm – The FA Player
• Tottenham vs Leicester – KO 2pm – The FA player
• Brighton vs Arsenal – KO 6.45pm – Sky Sports Football/Premier League/Showcase

How to watch the Women’s Super League on Sky Sports

This is the second season of Sky’s three-year contract with the WSL. For the 2022-23 season, the broadcaster has committed to broadcast at least 35 games. To start watching, you’ll need a Sky Sports subscription, which also grants access to plenty of other top-tier sports.

Packages start at £44 per month for 18 months, or from an additional £18 per month if you already have a Sky TV subscription. But the latter only gives you access to Sky Sports Premier League and Sky Sports Football – for all eight channels it’s £25 extra per month.

You can also get Sky Sports for half price with a Sky Glass 4K TV (from £659 upfront and £13 a month for 48 months). The TV is available in 43-inch, 55-inch, and 65-inch sizes.

Whichever option you choose, you will also have access on your phone, tablet and/or laptop via Sky Go. See all four options on Sky’s website.

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 now

If you don’t want to commit to a Sky contract and a satellite dish on your house, that’s no problem. Sky has its Now streaming service as an alternative option, and there are no restrictions on what content you can access.

Now is available on a wide range of devices, including smartphones, tablets, laptops, Chromecast, and even game consoles.

A day pass offers 24 hours of access and costs £11.98 – ideal for one-off occasions. However, it will make much more sense to get the monthly pass if you plan to watch every weekend. It costs £33.99 per month, although you get a week of Now Boost free.

The latter adds 1080p video and Dolby 5.1 surround sound, removes ads, and lets you stream to three devices at the same time (instead of the usual 2). After that, it will cost you an additional £5 per month.

Click here to see Sky Sports Pass packages from Now.

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 have to pay for a TV license whether you watch live or via BBC iPlayer. It currently costs £159 per household or business – find out more in our separate guide to UK TV licensing.

Once done, there are plenty of options available to you. The former is simply direct to your TV, with almost all Sky, Virgin, Freeview and Freesat boxes including default BBC channels.

You can also use BBC iPlayer on 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 that allows you to watch selected live games and on-demand content if you are based in the UK. To get started, simply go 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 you have two options.

The first is to simply watch through your local broadcaster. This only applies if you are in Australia (Optus Sport), Brazil (ESPN) Canada (Sportsnet), Central America, Mexico, Dominican Republic (all Sky Sports), Germany, Italy (the two DAZN), in New Zealand (Spark Sport), Scandinavia (Nent) or the United States (CBS Sports, Paramount+).

If you are based elsewhere or prefer to use an existing UK account or subscription, there is an alternative. This involves using a VPN, which helps you “appear” in another country by giving you a new IP address.

Our top pick is NordVPN, which we use for the purposes of this tutorial. There are plenty of alternatives in our best VPN chart, but make sure they unblock Sky Sports, Now, The FA Player and BBC iPlayer – the latter is often a problem, but not for Nord.

To get started, simply open the NordVPN app and connect to any server in the UK. You can do this by selecting it on a map or by simply clicking on the British flag under the “Quick Connect” button. Once connected, simply start watching as you normally would.

Are you also interested in men’s football? Here’s how to watch the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup.