Alex Scott Leaves Disney+ Women's Champions League — SkimNews
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- Alex Scott left Disney+'s Women's Champions League coverage on Thursday after two rounds of matches, telling BBC Sport she was "grateful" for the opportunities but not publicly stating her reason for the sudden departure.
- Disney+ is in the second season of a five-year deal to cover the competition and introduced new formats this year, including a watchalong show with Scott alternating presenting duties with Shebahn Aherne, though coverage drew criticism for technical issues including an unscheduled advert break during Arsenal's game against HB Koge.
- BBC announced its Women's Super League highlights show will not return for the 2026-27 season, but cited a bespoke new YouTube channel, debate show "The Women's Football Fallout" on BBC iPlayer, and clips on the BBC Sport website as evidence of continued commitment, framing it as a response to changing audience habits.
- Journalist Carrie Dunn, who has covered women's sport for over two decades, said the core issue is that "broadcasters are not sure who the audience is," adding that budget cuts leave the same presenters and pundits "trying to be all things to all people."
- Dunn also flagged an unsolved tension in the coverage: explaining context to new fans "without patronising your older fans" is "something the major broadcasters have not found a solution to yet," and urged broadcasters to "start by choosing one thing and doing it really well."
- WSL managers Brian Sorensen (Aston Villa), Andree Jeglertz (Manchester City), Martin Ho (Tottenham), and Sonia Bompastor (Chelsea) broadly welcomed the experimentation, with Bompastor noting "anytime you try to do something new, you will please some people and upset others" and Sorensen calling the evolution from early streams to current broadcasts "a very big improvement."
Why it matters: Three of the UK's biggest women's football broadcast commitments are recalibrating at once: Disney+ lost its high-profile presenter after two rounds, the BBC is ending its linear WSL highlights show, and Sky Sports holds the baseline Sky deal — meaning fans increasingly must piece together coverage across a streaming service, a YouTube channel, and an iPlayer debate show rather than finding it on a single channel.
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