SKY SPORTS FINALLY JUMP ON BOARD THE WOMEN'S FOOTBALL BANDWAGON BUT, IS THIS A REALLY GAMECHANGER FOR THE WOMEN'S GAME?

 IT WAS RECENTLY ANNOUNCED THAT THE FA HAVE SIGNED A MULTI-MILLION POUND BROADCASTING DEAL WITH SKY FOR WSL RIGHTS.

After years of Sky telling me their customers (of which I have been one for nine years) are not interested in women's football, they've finally decided it's worth their while getting on board with it. Why? Is it good for the game? Certainly the money generated from the deal is going to have a big impact on the game, without a doubt but, is it what's best for the game? Although I'm a Sky customer and have been since 2012, I have never had a Sky Sports subscription. There are two reason's for this. One, they didn't have women's football. Two, it's just too expensive (for me). There was no way I could justify the price for the two or three games per season that the (men's) team I support would be on TV. My personal circumstances changed massively last year and I no longer have any subscription TV but, I still get my broadband through Sky. I know I'm whinging about why I won't able to watch the games on Sky Sports but, if I'm in the situation where the game I love becomes less accessible then, there are plenty of others in that situation, too. Sky have lost out on plenty of their rights to the Premier League so, are they trying to make something back by dipping into the women's game? I know I'm being very cynical here but, Sky have told me directly, on multiple occasions that they are not interested in the women's game despite it having huge global popularity which has been growing at a phenomenally fast pace for quite a few years now. As we have seen in the men's game, the almighty power of Sky's money comes with conditions. They dictate when games are played. When I get to go back to work, I won't be able to watch a match on a Monday or Friday evening. I've never had a nine-to-five.

Who will benefit from the Sky deal? Obviously, there is a lot of

money going into this deal but, where will it actually go? Despite the Women's FA Cup's multi-million pound sponsorship deal with Vitality and the previous one with SSE, the FA Cup total prize pot is still just over half a million pounds and teams in the earlier rounds don't receive enough prize money to cover their costs for those FA Cup ties. So, again, where will the money go? Of course, there will be positive knock-on effects from the deal. With the backing of the Sky deal, more sponsorship and investment opportunities will arise allowing clubs the ability to become profitable on their own. Will the deal allow The FA to invest better further down the women's football pyramid? 

There's no question that, even with the huge leaps taken since the WSL began ten years ago, the women's game remains massively underfunded and undervalued. What are Sky's motives with this deal? Are they trying to appease investors on matters of equality and diversity representation? I have, of course, contacted Sky, again. No reply as yet and I don't really expect to get one. We have an obligation to keep asking these questions and a right to be given the honest answers. 

Is the Sky deal really a good deal for the women's game or is it purely financially motivated?