England’s Women’s Super League aims to become the world’s first billion-pound women’s football league within 10 years, league board chair Dawn Airey said ahead of the new season.

Airey, speaking to the press before the start of the 2023-24 edition on October 1, stated that The WSL and second tier Championship could be the most profitable leagues in the world.

WSL, one of the greatest women’s football

The WSL is one of the most popular women’s football leagues in the worldalong with National Women’s Soccer League United States, Spain’s F League, Germany’s Frauen-Bundesliga, and Australia’s A-League, among others.

At the moment, The WSL and Championship are managed by English football’s governing body, the Football Association, but the management of these leagues will gradually be handed over to a new company called “NewCo”.

NewCo will manage both leagues independently and the new company is scheduled to take over at the end of the year.

“One of the goals we have is to make this league the first women’s league in the world to generate £1 billion, meaning league revenue and club revenue, and there’s no reason why we shouldn’t achieve that.” Airey stated on Monday, according to the Reuters news agency.

“That’s our goal, to get more financing at all levels, as well as … develop the pipeline and investments that are needed at all levels.”

“We saw increasing attendance, growth in participation and broadcasting, increasing interest in sponsorship and marketing opportunities, and then we started to be more imaginative about what it meant to attend a feminine game,” Airey said, according to The Guardian newspaper. “Not just watching the game, but everything that happens around it, is there the potential for clubs to think differently about their income?”

Airey’s comments come almost a month after England reached the final of the Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealandwhere they lost to Spain 1-0 in the title match.

Women’s football in England

Women’s football in England has been on the rise since the national team won the European Championship on home soil last year with a record attendance at the final.

In the new WSL season, Chelsea will defend its title after the London club lifted the trophy last season after being two points clear of second place. Manchester United.

On day one, United play at Aston Villa, Chelsea begin their title defense against Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal host Liverpool. Manchester City hosts West Ham United, Everton hosts Brighton and Hove Albion, and Leicester City hosts Bristol City.

*With information from US Forbes