Project Moonshot: What to expect from next era of WSL

The Women’s Super League and Women’s Championship will enter a new era from next season, when they will be run outside the auspices of the Football Association for the first time, but what can we expect?

The two leagues’ new chief executive, Canadian former banker Nikki Doucet, has been speaking to the media at Wembley for the first time in her new role, and although much of the legal paperwork for the handover is still being sorted out the former Nike director gave the first flavour of what her future plans are.

One message was immediately clear: Fans should not expect any immediate, radical changes to the structure of the league next season. There will still be 12 teams in each division next term, alongside the existing League Cup that involves all 24 teams.

Long-term expansion is not being dismissed but one thing Doucet did categorically rule out was any suggestion of a closed-shop league being formed. She says the ‘NewCo’ – the temporary name for the new entity that will run the two divisions – is fully in favour of protecting the pyramid’s promotion and relegation system. “Yes, 100 per cent,” she said. “That’s part of the proposal of NewCo and what all 24 clubs signed up for, so it’s not a closed league.”

Could 3pm blackout end for women’s fixtures only?

It looks set to be a case of evolution rather than revolution from 2024-25, but fans will still have a lot of questions. Not least, what is the ‘NewCo’?

It is a new company, which will be owned by the 24 clubs, and its aim is to make the WSL and Championship financially sustainable. Doucet would not be drawn on the prospect of external investment, nor on the idea of investment from the men’s Premier League. She was also not yet able to disclose the likely make-up of the new board, nor what percentage the FA will retain as a golden share in the company, however, she confirmed that the NewCo is in talks with broadcasters about the rights to cover the leagues from next season. The existing deal, with the BBC and Sky, expires this summer.

“We have two great partners at the moment in Sky and BBC,” Doucet said. “I think it’s our job to understand the ‘reach and revenue’ question, that’s what we all still need, reach. The biggest thing I’ve learned is that we’re starting to do the right insights and fandom is really in its infancy. More than anything, it should just be as easy as possible for fans to be able to watch the league. How we can do that is what we’re exploring.”

Doucet was also asked whether the WSL will seek to play live television fixtures during the traditional Saturday 3pm blackout slot, but replied: “The biggest barrier is obviously Article 48 which encompasses all of football. The Karen Carney review said women’s football needs to figure out its own ‘appointment to view’. So we’re exploring what that looks like. We’re looking at every possibility.”

Doucet’s ‘Project Moonshot’

Having been selected for this new CEO role after an extensive FA-commissioned recruitment process which concluded 12 months ago, Doucet has been consulting with club directors for months prior to the official announcement of her appointment, and she has a name for her vision for the leagues: Project Moonshot.

“When I worked at Nike, we would never talk about our competition to [being] the No 1 brand. We would always talk about where is the consumer going next and to try to imagine what doesn’t exist yet. And we would call those moonshot’, so that’s where the name came from,” she explained. “And within that is a proposal that all the clubs agreed to, and right now we’re working through the legal transition.

“I fundamentally see this as a start-up. When you look at the stats of the growth of audiences and social media, if you look at that in isolation and without the judgement of the direct comparison to men’s football, you would be like ‘holy s---’ this is a high-growth text start-up. We need to look at the data, what the fans are telling us, what the players are telling us and are we assessing that?

“Stuff’s going to be really hard but equally, everyone’s really trying too and that’s exciting and that’s what it is. Going to the moon is hard, doing anything good is hard, so there’s an acceptance with that and I don’t necessarily feel overwhelmed by that.”

‘This league is the future’

Doucet also says the NewCo “agrees with all the recommendations” that were made within the Carney review, published last year, chaired by former England star Karen Carney. The new CEO is also promising that smaller clubs from the Championship will be listened to as the game continues to grow, adding: “Their voices have been heard throughout this entire process. We had their voices on the CEO working group. As we continue to bring NewCo to life their voice is continuing to be in that.

“NewCo itself is both leagues. There’s probably different strategies for both leagues to make sure they’re both successful because they’re at different phases of their development. A successful Championship also means a successful WSL and vice versa. They’re interconnected.”

The NewCo’s creation represents a long-planned and significant moment for the women’s leagues, which have been run by the FA since the WSL was created in 2011. As the CEO of the new body, Doucet has huge responsibilities. And why did she want this job? She replied: “This [the women’s game] is my passion. I see a world where women’s sport and women’s football in particular changes the world and I believe in the power of sport.

“The experience of going to a women’s match is more like a Glastonbury experience, it’s a festival experience. That’s a very different fan base. That’s what we need to bring to life. Who doesn’t want to be part of that? This league is the future.”