As another major fund to buy women’s football teams launches, Maggie and Matt ask the question: why haven’t we seen any news of deals closing?

They also analyse the English Football Association's new National League strategy for the women’s game, and see what impact it will have for club football outside the top-tiers, and answer a listener question about scheduling for this coming WSL season: will it prevent fans of WSL2 clubs from following the top-tier?

Here is the Financial Times article Matt references

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Off the back of a new NWSL club sponsorship report that found the NWSL’s 14 clubs generated $75 million in sponsorship revenue for the 2024 season, Maggie and Matt compare and contrast and see where WSL clubs benefit and are restricted by being part of a men's team's sponsorship proposition.

Matt also tweaks his ranking of the factors influencing someone’s decision to attend a women’s football game - based on listener feedback - and they answer a listener question about what clubs should be doing via the media to build loyalty beyond the Lionesses bump.

This is the Southampton FC season ticket video Maggie references is in the podcast.

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Maggie and Matt are back!

And with the domestic European football seasons less than a month away now, they look at how WSL clubs are looking to benefit from the Lionesses bump with season ticket on-sales.

All of which leads to one key question: are tickets too cheap?

They also mark UEFA's report card for the 2025 Women's Euros, and have a bit of fun discussing some of the weird and wonderful prizes women's teams and players have been given over the years.

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With Aston Villa reported to have sold its women’s side to ease PSR pressures on the men's team, Maggie and Matt look at the best operating model for this new era of “independent” clubs.

The UEFA Women's Euros also start today, so they will tell you everything you need to know about how successfully it has been commercialised and new off-the-pitch business innovations, and answer a question about the WSL's self-produced new content series...at the Euros in Switzerland.

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This week's podcast is a live recording from the Expected Goals Live event at SOOO London on June 19th 2025.

It starts with Maggie and Matt hosting a panel of investors and advisors to investors, who give an open and honest conversation about the decision-making processes for where the flow of money goes into women's football globally.

Those panellists are:

Nicki Boyd (Founder and Managing Partner of Sphera Partners)

There are then nine entrepreneurs operating in and around the women's football space looking for a combination of investment, sponsorship and guidance who give three-minute lightning pitches.

Those pitchers are:

Florence Lloyd-Hughes (The Cutback)

Abby Pope (Liverpool Feds)

Ivi Casagrande (Casagrande Coaching Academy)

Abiola Ijasanmi (African Sports Investor)

Lisa Anthoney (Freyja Fit)

Nicole Allison (Worcester City Women FC)

Ayisha Gulati (Hayters TV/Pitch Perfect LIVE)

Renee Fraser-Shepherd (Sloobie)

Nora Beqaj (Gals FC)

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The WSL has just announced promotion and relegation changes for next season - but which clubs are best positioned to benefit?

Maggie and Matt are on the case, also covering what the lively situation at Hamilton Academical in Scotland tells us about the importance - or not - of sharing club IP between a men’s and women’s side.

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In this week’s episode Maggie and Matt look at why another club has withdrawn from the pyramid - Barnsley - but this time explicitly laid the blame at the FA’s door. Is their criticism valid or a convenient excuse?

They also look at female football participation in the UK and whether that is connected to attendance decline in the WSL, and with the Premier League deciding not to hold a vote to change rules around teams selling assets to related companies, whether this will be an added catalyst for more transactions like Chelsea Women.

Buy tickets to come to Expected Goals Live on June 19!

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This week Maggie and Matt are joined by a special guest - Adrian Jacob, Head of Football at World Sevens Football.

Before joining the global 7 on 7 women’s football series this March, Adrian was Chairman and Executive Manager at Chelsea Women for more than a decade, a period that saw the team move from a part-time club with 16 players training twice weekly to the most successful club in England.

He discusses:

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Disney+ has made a move into European women's football by acquiring broadcast rights for the UEFA Women’s Champions League, but is the fragmentation of the media landscape for women’s football in the UK a negative rather than a positive?

Maggie and Matt are here to tell you the answer.

They also look at how clubs should be positioning themselves for sponsors, with Glasgow City becoming one of the first women's football clubs - if not the first club - to publicly say who they will and won’t work with, and why.

And a listener has asked them to assess the success of the World Sevens, which hosted its first tournament last week.

Some links mentioned in this week's podcast:

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It's the start of a new season - at least for the podcast - and to kick-off Maggie and Matt are giving their take on the big stories that have broken since they last recorded...just two weeks ago.

So that means why Alexis Ohanian has become the first major external investor into the WSL, and what the transaction means for the other clubs looking for investment.

The new WSL branding, the financial situation at Blackburn, the 10% year-on-year attendance decline for the WSL, the confirmed move to make Goodison Park Everton Women’s home, and the Women’s World Cup expansion from 32 to 48 teams from 2031.

....and breathe.

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