Nike has signed a landmark five-year extension to its sponsorship of the Women’s Super League (WSL) and WSL2, delivering essential support to players who need it most.
What’s Happening?
Nike’s renewed deal guarantees free boots, goalkeeper gloves, and match balls for players in both the WSL and WSL2 – but only for those without personal sponsorship contracts.
Who’s Impacted?
So far, around 250 players – roughly half the first-team squads across both divisions have signed up for the benefit. Many had previously been covering the cost themselves, with some clubs not providing match or training gear at all.
Why now?
Despite the WSL’s rapid growth many players, especially goalkeepers, defenders, and senior players, remain unsponsored and out of pocket.
Average WSL salaries sit just above £50,000 a year, but that headline figure masks a huge gap between star players and the rest of the league.
Previous PFA Support
Until now, the PFA provided a £300 boot voucher for WSL players, with nothing for WSL2. Nike’s new deal levels the playing field, extending the kind of support players at clubs like Chelsea and Tottenham already had under club-specific agreements to 22 additional clubs.
The Value of Player Sponsorship
For top-tier WSL stars, personal boot deals can be worth £5,000–£80,000 annually, sometimes exceeding their club salaries. For most players, though, those deals never come.
VERTA’s Take
Women’s football may be booming, but this deal is a reminder of the stark imbalance between the elite and everyone else. Outside the top four WSL clubs, money is still very tight — and the gulf between stars with lucrative contracts and those without remains huge.
Nike’s five-year extension is a significant step towards closing some of those gaps. It’s about more than “nicer boots”. Better equipment means better performance and fewer injuries. One less thing for players to worry about in an unforgiving, relentless season.
It won’t erase the inequality between superstars and squad players. But it does mean hundreds of professionals across the WSL and WSL2 will finally have the gear they need to compete at the highest level – without footing the bill themselves.
