While UK broadcast audiences have declined year-on-year, the latest Women’s Sport Trust (WST) Visibility Report presents a powerful counter-narrative: women’s sport is seeing unprecedented digital growth and global fan engagement.
The WST report, featuring broadcast analysis from GSIQ, shows that three-minute UK broadcast reach fell -13% between January and May 2025 (from 22.6m to 19.6m), the first decline since 2022, coinciding largely with a -15% reduction in coverage hours and falls in Barclays Women’s Super League (BWSL) and Guinness Women’s Six Nations (W6N) average broadcast audiences.
However, there were still standout moments. The Women’s Boat Race was the UK’s most-watched women’s sporting event of 2025 so far, peaking at 2.18 million viewers. Football and rugby filled the rest of the top 10, with the Lionesses and home nation rugby teams featuring heavily – highlighting all their continued appeal to the viewing public.
With the UEFA Women’s EURO 2025, the Women’s Rugby World Cup, and a record number of BWSL matches set to be broadcast in the upcoming season on Sky Sports, UK broadcast figures are expected to rebound in the second half of the year.
Digital Channels Fuel Growth
Across platforms, global digital engagement soared in early 2025, as leading leagues and teams expanded their content output and connected with new audiences:
- The first five months of 2025 saw huge year-on-year increases in digital content posting from the leading women’s sport leagues and properties. The eight most-viewed accounts on each platform drove a +105% rise on TikTok and a +84% increase on YouTube.
- The WNBA led TikTok with 131 million views globally, while the WTA topped YouTube, growing views by +75% year-on-year to 63 million. On Instagram, India’s Women’s Premier League (WPL) recorded the highest engagement (28 million), and the UEFA Women’s Champions League saw a +92% increase in Facebook engagement, securing the top spot on that platform.
- Looking at sports teams specifically, it was European football that dominated views and engagements on Instagram (FC Barcelona Women 38m engagements) and TikTok (Juventus Women 170m views), whilst Indiana Fever was by far the most viewed team on YouTube (37m).
- In the UK, the BWSL led the way for domestic women’s leagues, driving 56m TikTok views, 20m YouTube views and 6m Instagram engagements.
Alongside insights and metrics from the first five months of 2025, this extensive report goes ‘beyond the headlines’ with in-depth analysis of the BWSL 2024/25 season, the W6N and Premiership Women’s Rugby (PWR), as well as interesting snapshots into rugby league, cricket and netball. WST’s research also draws lessons from challenger leagues, highlights the importance of a thriving ecosystem and identifies opportunities to unlock further digital growth through greater equality in publishing resources.
Spotlight: Barclays Women’s Super League (BWSL) – 2024/25 season
The BWSL saw a -35% year-on-year drop in average broadcast audiences and a -10% drop in attendance year-on-year. Despite this, the 2024/25 season saw major digital gains for the BWSL, with clubs and the league delivering significant growth across multiple platforms.
Key digital highlights from 2024/2025 season include:
- The official BWSL YouTube channel became the second most viewed women’s sports league/competition globally, with 39.6 million views since launching in July 2024.
- The BWSL TikTok account recorded the highest average views per video (417k) and highest engagement per video of any major women’s sports property in the last 12 months.
- BWSL clubs saw a +154% year-on-year rise in TikTok views, overtaking EFL Championship clubs to become the second most viewed domestic league on TikTok in England, behind the Premier League. They were also the second highest domestic league for Instagram engagements (154m).
- Chelsea Women led all domestic women’s clubs in both TikTok views (258m) and Instagram engagements (42m) for the season.
- Across Instagram, the 12 BWSL clubs earned 154m engagements, outperforming the 24 EFL Championship teams (119m).
Mixed Broadcast Results, but Player and Platform Gains in Rugby and Netball
While TV audiences for the W6N fell from 8.1m to 6.6m (3+ minute reach), digital gains, particularly player-driven, stood out:
- During the W6N, the Red Roses led the way. Between January and April 2025, their players posted more TikTok content than any other England men’s or women’s team in rugby, cricket or football.
- Collectively, their 6.7 million views on TikTok were +75% higher than the England men’s rugby team. Demonstrating that in a landscape where visibility, authenticity and connection drive growth, players aren’t just part of the story – they’re leading it.
On the domestic front, the PWR saw hugely positive increases in both TV audiences and online exposure:
- Average audiences for live PWR matches on TNT Sports rose by +86% (11.8k-21.9k) during the 2024/25 season.
- PWR YouTube views increased by +24% to 678k, whilst TikTok video views grew by 91% and Instagram engagement was up by +118% on the previous season.
- Ilona Maher’s signing by Bristol Bears helped drive a 9.3x increase in Instagram engagement to 2.5 million, while broadcast audiences rose +281% when she featured in the match day squad.
- Growth extended beyond one player, with 10 PWR players making the top 50 most viewed GB or UK based female athletes on TikTok so far this year, versus two players at the end of 2024.
As the season draws to a close, the relaunch of the Netball Super League (NSL) has had a positive impact on viewing figures and digital engagement:
- In the season so far (Rounds 1-10), viewing hours have already grown by +229% on Sky Sports compared to 2024, whilst the Sky Sports YouTube channel has seen a +61% increase in views.
- NSL Instagram saw a +47% increase in engagements (296k), and +524% increase in TikTok views (4.5m), for January to May year-on-year.
Unlocking the Full Value of Visibility
“It’s hugely encouraging to see women’s sport thriving on digital platforms, with athletes, teams, and leagues leveraging new ways to connect with fans. This ecosystem (built through collaboration between broadcasters, rights holders, and platforms) is vital to continuing the sport’s growth.” said Tammy Parlour, CEO of the Women’s Sport Trust.
“That said, the decline in overall broadcast viewership is a reminder of the fierce competition for audience attention. We must ensure that investment in production and distribution keeps pace with fan demand and the quality of the sport on offer.
“There is still untapped potential – particularly if we can close the gap in resources between men’s and women’s sport. The growing digital interest shows there’s strong casual fandom; the opportunity now is to translate that into regular, domestic viewing habits, especially off the back of the interest that this summer’s major events will generate. To unlock long-term value, we need consistent, quality coverage – supported by sustained investment across the whole ecosystem.”