{"id":876282,"date":"2026-09-01T14:10:15","date_gmt":"2026-09-01T14:10:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/876282\/"},"modified":"2026-09-01T14:10:15","modified_gmt":"2026-09-01T14:10:15","slug":"bbc-fully-committed-to-womens-football-despite-cancelling-flagship-highlights-show-womens-super-league","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/876282\/","title":{"rendered":"BBC \u2018fully committed to women\u2019s football\u2019 despite cancelling flagship highlights show | Women’s Super League"},"content":{"rendered":"

BBC Sport insists it remains \u201cfully committed to women\u2019s football and the WSL\u201d despite \u00addiscontinuing its flagship BBC<\/a> One highlights programme the \u00adWomen\u2019s Football Show for the new Women\u2019s Super League season.<\/p>\n

It is understood the BBC will focus on digital platforms to \u00adshowcase highlights instead, including \u00adshowing them on its newly launched YouTube women\u2019s football channel, instead of the weekly television show with a studio, presenter and pundits, which had aired previously on BBC One at 11.30pm on Sundays, after first going live on BBC iPlayer at 9pm.<\/p>\n

The BBC is also understood to be planning a YouTube chat show about women\u2019s football, presented by Alex Scott, which multiple sources have said is expected to be in the \u201cstyle of the Overlap\u201d, Gary \u00adNeville\u2019s football show. BBC Sport did not wish to \u00adcomment when \u00adcontacted about that plan specifically. Other England players, past and present, are expected to be part of the regular panel.<\/p>\n

The decision to move away from the more traditional, linear television highlights show and focus on digital platforms appears to follow a similar strategy that was demonstrated this summer during the men\u2019s World Cup, during which the BBC opted not to air a nightly highlights show for much of the tournament and instead drew in millions of viewers to its match\u2011by\u2011match highlights \u00adpackages that were published online and on iPlayer.<\/p>\n

A BBC spokesperson told the Guardian: \u201cBBC Sport remains fully committed to women\u2019s football and the WSL. As we build towards the 2027 Fifa \u00adWomen\u2019s World Cup, audiences will be able to watch highlights from every WSL match across BBC platforms, \u00adincluding iPlayer, YouTube and the BBC Sport website and app.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn addition, BBC Sport will broadcast 25 live WSL matches, alongside live Uefa Women\u2019s Champions League coverage, ensuring fans can follow the biggest stories and moments from the women\u2019s game on free-to-air platforms.\u201d<\/p>\n

The BBC and Sky Sports are about to enter the second season of a five\u2011year domestic rights deal<\/a> that runs until 2030, with every game shown live and the vast \u00admajority by Sky Sports.<\/p>\n

Last year the BBC lost the broadcast rights for the Women\u2019s FA Cup to Channel\u00a04 and TNT Sports, which will show the competition live in the UK and Republic of Ireland until 2028. This year the BBC also stopped \u00adairing Football Focus<\/a>, the \u00adlong-running magazine-style show, presented by Scott, which frequently showcased women\u2019s football. On Tuesday, however, BBC sources were adamant the broadcaster was not cutting back on its \u00adwomen\u2019s \u00adfootball \u00adcoverage nor its investment but simply \u00adevolving the way it delivers \u00adhighlights in line with \u00adchanging \u00adaudience habits.<\/p>\n

Yet the Guardian understands the decision to axe the women\u2019s football show has still disappointed several BBC Sport insiders and also came as something of a surprise. Multiple sources who had worked on the Women\u2019s Football Show last season \u2013 which was produced by the independent production company Aurora Media, and not by BBC Sport staff \u2013 have told the Guardian they first learnt the show was being cancelled when the news was reported by the Cutback ] in August.<\/p>\n

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Nevertheless, WSL\u00a0Football is understood to be comfortable with the assurances it has received from the BBC that it will be enhancing its coverage across its platforms. The new league season starts on Friday when the big-spending London City Lionesses<\/a> host Manchester United.<\/p>\n

The Women\u2019s Football Show was co\u2011funded between the BBC and the league. The production of the show is understood to have been funded by WSL Football \u2013 and previously, by the Football Association, when it oversaw the division prior to 2024 \u2013 while the BBC covered the cost of the on-screen talent.<\/p>\n

Multiple sources have told the Guardian that the BBC\u2019s director of sport, Alex Kay-Jelski, made the strategic decision to discontinue the show, although other sources at the BBC have insisted this was not the case and that such calls are made collaboratively through consultation rather than by one person. The former editor-in-chief of the Athletic, Kay-Jelski has been in his role at BBC Sport since he succeeded Barbara Slater in April 2024.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BBC Sport insists it remains \u201cfully committed to women\u2019s football and the WSL\u201d despite \u00addiscontinuing its flagship BBC…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":876283,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[563],"tags":[64,63,596,85],"class_list":["post-876282","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-football","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-football","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/876282","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=876282"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/876282\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/876283"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=876282"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=876282"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=876282"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}