It’s been an excellent start to the Women’s Super League season for Arsenal as they opened with a 6-1 victory over Reading last weekend and followed that up with a 9-1 away victory at West Ham United on Saturday. It is also a landmark year for the WSL in terms of regional television contracts, with some of the recruitment into the WSL driving overseas interest.
Last season, the FA introduced the free FA Player app, which shows every FAWSL game free of charge all over the world. That was true all over the world and the only exception in the UK was when a game was being carried by BBC or BT Sport. In the UK this season, nothing has changed. Every single WSL game (as well as selected Conti Cup and FA Cup games) are streamed free of charge on the FA Player other than matches shown live by BBC or BT Sport.
Across the globe, things have become a bit more complex in some regions due to individual TV deals being struck. So here is an explainer on where you can watch the games and, to reiterate, wherever you are in the world, every single Arsenal WSL game is available for you to watch. The FAWSL Facebook page always carries highlights of games too and they are uploaded at midday the day after a weekend match. The FA Player allows you to rewatch all matches in full at your leisure too. I would also recommend following @miedemastuff on twitter, who posts where matches are being broadcast on the day of each game (I would also advise following @miedemastuff generally, who is a great source of Arsenal Women stats, info, video clips and AWFC coverage).
In the UK
As mentioned above, every single game is shown on the FA Player app, unless the match is carried on BBC or BT Sport. BBC has a 30 minute WSL highlights show every Sunday evening too, usually at 8pm on the BBC Red Button and it is available on the iplayer thereafter.
Lethal finishing from @bmeado9 & her teammates ?@westhamwomen ? @ArsenalWFC
? Highlights & Full Match on the FA Player now! ?
— Barclays FA Women's Super League (@BarclaysFAWSL) September 13, 2020
In the US
Again, all games are available on the FA Player app, with the exception of matches that will be shown live by NBC Sports. NBC will be showing 50 live games from the WSL this season across NBCSports.com, the NBC Sports app and NBCSN. You don’t need a subscription to watch these matches online, as you do with Premier League matches NBC streams, but you probably need a cable subscription to NBCSN. But watch out, because sometimes the games aren’t broadcast live but are streamed on delay (particularly the midday kickoffs in the UK which, obviously, take place at pretty unsociable hours stateside). Selected games are streamed on atafootball.com. Basically, if you’re in the US you have to keep an eye on the NBC listings, otherwise the game will be on FA Player.
In Canada
From this season, Sportsnet will carry 50 live FAWSL games as well as the FA Cup semi-finals and final. Every game is available to watch free of charge on the FA Player save for the ones that will be screened live on Sportsnet.
In Australia
Optus Sport will carry 50 live FAWSL matches for the next two seasons. The FA Player is geoblocked in Australia and Optus Sports is the only outlet that carries WSL coverage. Every Thursday, Optus also carries a WSL magazine show called ‘Women’s Football Oz Style’ hosted by Alicia Ferguson. I would also recommend The Far Post podcast, featuring Samantha Lewis (twice a guest on the Arsenal Women Arsecast), Anna Harrington and Marissa Lordanic which focuses on Australian players in the FAWSL.
super excited to be part of a new Australian women’s football podcast, @thefarpostpod, with a bunch of legends @marissalordanic, @AnnaHarrington & @CaptainAngelo.
tune in to hear us chat all things #WLeague, #Matildas, #AussiesAbroad & Aus woso history!https://t.co/O2HFSJP8kf
— Samantha Lewis (@battledinosaur) August 29, 2020
Germany and Italy
Starting this season, DAZN will be streaming 44 WSL games live. Every other game will be live and available for free on the FA Player, except for the 44 that DAZN are streaming, so check your local listings.
Mexico, Central America and Dominican Republic
All games are shown free of charge on the FA Player app, except for those carried by Sky Mexico, who broadcast around 50 games a season. So check your local listings.
Scandinavia and Finland
Around 50 games a season are shown live by NENT. The ones that aren’t aren’t available live on the FA Player but are available on the app the next day.
Everywhere else
Every single WSL match is carried live by the FA Player app, completely un-geoblocked.
World domination for the WSL… Mwahaha!
Is Finland (where I currently live) counted as one of the “Scandinavian” countries in the list above (even though it isn’t a Scandinavian country), or do you count it as an “Everywhere else” country for the purposes of this list?
Just so I know whether 50 matches would be un-viewable (as I understand it), or not. 🙂
The games are on NENT in Finland, will clarify in the article.
Thanks Tim
I’m in Israel and the Arsenal WSL games aren’t showing on the FA player
Thanks for this, Tim. In Canada, Sportsnet lost the broadcast rights to Premier league games to DAZN over a season ago, so it will be nice to see WSL (and football in general) back on the network.
Thanks Tim, really helpful article.
Was able to enjoy the West Ham match thanks to atafootball.com
The US viewing process is more convoluted.
Saturday’s match vs West Ham was broadcast Sunday on NBCSN with no live stream available on the NBC sports app prior to the delayed broadcast.
I was, however, able to watch the match live on atafootball.com (who produce the matches for NBC.)
The NBCSN broadcast cut to commercials midway through the first half and viewers missed the initial exchange of goals.
Yeah it’s good that NBC have picked up the rights but they have made it quite difficult by hiding things away and showing them on delay etc.
I was confused by that this weekend. Set the DVR for Sunday and then on Saturday afternoon came here and saw the final score.
I guess if you’re going to be spoiled it might as well be for a 9-1 win!
Yes that inexplicable commercial break was infuriating. As I recall it was when McCabe went down from a heavy challenge at 0-0 and needed treatment. I guess they decided it was a good time to make a quick buck, but then they proceeded to string together a half dozen adverts in a row and by the time they returned it was 1-1. We should let them know how stupid this is. I did already @ them on Twitter.
Are any of the womens’ matches ever going to be available on arsenal.com like the mens’ matches are?
Arsenal usually post up the highlights, but the FAWSL keep the rights to highlights confined to their FB page and YouTube channel and to BBC. That kinda works for the clubs too because they don’t have to commit the resource to commentators.
In the UK like on Saturday when BT Sport are televising you can listen to live commentary via the FA Player
Thank you for the atafootball.com tip. Will come in handy for the games that get broadcasted the following day in the US.
Saw the game from Saturday yesterday on NBCSN here in the States. They made West Ham look like a Sunday league side. The quality of football the ladies were playing was incredible.