Women’s sport in the UK is looking to take another step forward, this time focusing on one of the factors that can have the greatest impact on its reach: television coverage. Twenty-five representatives from sports governing bodies, broadcasters and media companies have signed a letter to Chancellor John Healey, calling for specific tax credits for the production and live broadcasting of women’s competitions. The initiative brings together organisations such as the Football Association (FA), the Rugby Football Union (RFU), the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), Sky Sports, ITV and YouTube.
The request comes at a time when audiences for women’s sport continue to grow, while its presence on screens remains well below that of men’s competitions. According to the signatories, only 13% of televised sporting events watched during 2025 involved women’s competitions, a figure they believe reflects a market failure that limits coverage. The issue is not only the potential number of viewers, but also the difficulties producers and broadcasters face in financing regular coverage throughout the year, particularly in a market where major events attract a significant share of audiences and investment.
The industry calls for a specific tax credit for women’s sports production
The proposal seeks to extend to women’s sport a support mechanism that already exists for other audiovisual productions. Independent film producers and certain television content, such as children’s programming, can currently access significant tax benefits. Industry representatives believe that applying a similar scheme to women’s sports production would help reduce the costs of live broadcasts and make it easier for more competitions to reach screens with higher production standards. The letter specifically calls for a demand-led tax credit for live women’s sports production.
The request also comes amid a series of decisions highlighting the challenges of sustaining this coverage. The Women’s Super League (WSL), considered the second most valuable women’s sports league in the world behind the US National Women’s Soccer League, will have all its matches available live in the UK this season, while WSL2 matches will be available on YouTube. However, the BBC decided to cancel The Women’s Football Show, its weekly highlights programme, after the WSL had previously helped cover some of the production costs. A similar situation can be seen in rugby, where the RFU subsidises the BBC’s coverage of the Women’s Premiership Rugby, highlighting that the existence of rights and competitions does not always guarantee the resources needed to create content around them.
More coverage to turn women’s sport’s growth into economic impact
For the signatories, increasing television production is not simply a matter of sporting visibility. The letter argues that there is growing global demand for women’s competitions, also driven by the achievements of British female athletes, and that greater television exposure can create a multiplier effect: more visibility for athletes, greater commercial opportunities for competitions, better conditions for attracting investment and increased participation among girls and women in sport. The aim would be to create an ecosystem in which producers can secure funding more easily and reinvest in higher-quality broadcasts.
The estimates included in the proposal put a specific figure on that potential. Industry representatives calculate that the incentive could generate £6.5 billion in indirect public health benefits by 2035, while the UK Treasury would receive an estimated direct economic return of £1.40 for every pound invested. The year 2035 also carries particular significance for British women’s sport, as the UK and Ireland are scheduled to host the FIFA Women’s World Cup that year, although the decision still needs to be ratified by the governing body in November. The proposal therefore seeks to use the growth in audiences and the upcoming major sporting events as an opportunity to develop a production and broadcasting structure that supports women’s sport beyond the biggest tournaments.
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