The Women's Super League has raised alarm bells about scheduling decisions after television audiences plummeted for one of the season's marquee fixtures.
The highly anticipated clash between Arsenal and Chelsea drew just 71,000 viewers across Sky Sports platforms, marking a staggering 90.3 per cent decrease from the 732,000 who watched the same fixture last year.
The dramatic decline has sparked serious concerns within the league about the impact of early kick-off times on viewership.
Sky Sports Main Event recorded an average audience of 55,900, whilst Sky Sports Premier League added another 15,100 viewers - combined figures that barely exceeded the 57,000 supporters who attended the match at the Emirates Stadium.
There were nearly more people at the Emirates watching the derby than people on TV
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The league's new broadcasting arrangement with Sky Sports, worth £65 million over five years, has fundamentally altered match scheduling across the WSL.
Sunday noon has become the designated prime slot, with 49 of the season's first 66 matches scheduled for midday or 11:55am starts.
This represents a significant departure from the traditional 2pm Sunday slots that previously dominated the WSL calendar.
Sky has abandoned evening kick-offs entirely, citing their unpopularity with match-attending supporters and families, despite those later slots having attracted stronger television audiences by retaining viewers from Premier League coverage.
Saturday lunchtime fixtures face particularly fierce competition from men's football broadcasts.
The Arsenal-Chelsea encounter coincided with Tottenham facing Manchester United on TNT Sports, which began 30 minutes earlier, alongside numerous EFL fixtures available on Sky.
TNT's early Saturday Premier League matches regularly draw audiences exceeding one million viewers.
Meanwhile, Sky's primary EFL fixture typically attracts between 200,000 and 300,000 viewers, with all seven concurrent matches combining for approximately 500,000 viewers.
These scheduling conflicts directly impact WSL viewership, as the early kick-offs also clash with grassroots and junior matches, further limiting the potential audience for women's football.
The WSL believe noon kick-offs have affected viewership numbers
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Fan frustration has mounted throughout the campaign, with supporters criticising the league's insistence on maintaining noon kick-offs despite widespread opposition.
Manchester United supporter Thomas Willoughby posted on X about the "imaginary benefits" of scheduling "literally every game" at midday on Sundays, whilst others highlighted how simultaneous fixtures prevent dedicated fans from watching multiple matches.
The timing issue compounds broader accessibility concerns, with Reddit users noting that placing WSL content behind paywalls immediately following the Lionesses' European Championship victory has squandered opportunities to attract new supporters.
Average WSL attendance figures have stagnated at 6,500 across the opening six matchdays, showing just a one per cent drop from last season according to the Women's Sports Trust.