For the first time, all 12 Women's Super League (WSL) clubs generated over £1 million ($1.35m) in revenue in the 2023-24 season, as reported in Deloitte's Annual Review of Football Finance, with total revenue predicted to reach £100m in the 2025-26 season.
Deloitte's analysis revealed that the total revenues of clubs in the top tier of English football surged by 34% during the 2023-24 season, reaching £65m, compared to £48m in the previous season.
Following the trend and increase in matchday, broadcast and commercial revenue, the sports business group have predicted that the total revenue from the 2025-26 season will surpass £100m, following the upcoming UEFA Women's European Championship in Switzerland in July.
The top four clubs, unsurprisingly, drove the increase in revenue last season, with two thirds of the total revenue coming from Arsenal (£15.3m), Chelsea (£11.5m) -- who won their fifth consecutive league title -- Manchester United (£9.2m), and Manchester City (£6.6m).
While the increase represents a positive development for the league, the revenue disparity between the top and bottom clubs has grown. The gap in revenue between the highest and lowest-earning clubs widened from £10.3m to £14.1m, although the relative distance between them decreased from 16 times to 13 times.
Meanwhile, Arsenal, who have led the way in attendance since 2022 and set a new average attendance record of 29,999, saw a significant rise in matchday revenue of 62%, reaching £4.4m.
This increase is part of a wider 73% increase in matchday revenue, driven by a 31% increase in average attendance since the 2022-23 season, though attendances have since dropped by 10% for the 2024-25 season. That has been put down to a lack of international football drawing attention to the domestic game.
In 2023-24, WSL clubs' total wage costs rose by 44% to £52m, with average wage costs of £4.4m. The average wage to revenue ratio also rose to 81%, up from 75% in 2022-23.
High-profile signings, such as Chelsea's acquisition of USWNT forwards Catarina Macario and Mia Fishel, Jill Roord's transfer to Manchester City, Geyse's move to Manchester United, and Arsenal's free transfer of USWNT defender Emily Fox, likely contributed to the rise in wages, further amplified by salary adjustments for new and extended contracts following the 2023 World Cup.
United had the highest broadcast revenue in the league at £1.7m after winning their first FA Cup trophy. This contributed to a total increase in revenue of 40%, bringing it to £10m.