Former England footballer Alex Scott stepped away from Disney+’s Women’s Champions League coverage on Thursday, just two rounds into the season. It’s a move that’s got everyone talking, especially since the streaming giant is only in the second year of its five-year deal for European football’s biggest club competition. This isn’t just a simple personnel change, though; it really makes you wonder about the bigger picture for covering the women’s game.
Disney+’s Early Stumbles and Scott’s Silence
Look, Disney+ has been trying some new stuff this season, like a watchalong show where Scott was alternating presenting duties with Shebahn Aherne. But it hasn’t exactly been smooth sailing. They’ve had some technical issues, and the opening night was rough, with an unscheduled advert break popping up during Arsenal’s game against HB Koge. You can’t have that when you’re trying to grow the audience, right? Scott herself hasn’t spilled the beans on why she left, only telling BBC Sport that she was “grateful” for the opportunities and hoped to “continue working together” in the future. That’s a classic non-answer, and it just adds fuel to the fire that something’s not quite clicking behind the scenes.
The Identity Crisis in Women’s Football Coverage
This isn’t just about one streaming service, though. The whole landscape of women’s football coverage is shifting. We’ve seen an explosion of interest in the last five years, largely thanks to big names like Sky Sports and the BBC in the UK, with Disney+ jumping in before the 2025-26 season to try and grab those new audiences. Scott even launched her own YouTube show, “One More Word WSL,” this season. Broadcasters are trying everything, from new formats and styles, even having a dog on set for Disney+! But journalist Carrie Dunn, who’s been watching women’s sport for over two decades, summed it up perfectly: “The challenge broadcasters are finding is that they are not sure who the audience is.”
She says a lot of the coverage is aimed at a “new generation,” and it’s clearly not connecting with the fans who’ve been watching longer. Plus, it’s often a “resourcing issue,” with budgets getting cut and the same presenters and pundits trying to be everything to everyone. It just doesn’t work. The BBC even announced its Women’s Super League highlights show won’t be back for the 2026-27 season, pushing instead to a bespoke YouTube channel, a debate show called “The Women’s Football Fallout” on iPlayer, and website clips. They say it’s about audience habits changing, moving away from linear TV. Dunn hit the nail on the head again, talking about the “tough balance where you’ve got to explain some context to the new fans without patronising your older fans.” Nobody’s found that solution yet.
So, what’s next for women’s football on our screens? Broadcasters need to figure out who they’re talking to and commit to it. As Dunn pointed out, taking risks on different kinds of coverage is awesome, but you’ve gotta “start by choosing one thing and doing it really well , and that’s got to be decent match coverage.” Let’s get the fundamentals right, because the game deserves it.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by BBC Sport.
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