Exclusive: WSL Football secures new partnership with AirBnb
Travel platform will launch £1m accommodation fund to support players
WSL Football has signed a three-year deal with Airbnb, the global travel platform, The Cutback can reveal.
The partnership, which will be announced this week, will see the creation of a new £1-million Airbnb Player Accommodation fund to support players when relocating during the transfer window.
WSL and WSL2 players will be eligible to apply for $2,000 (£1,500) of Airbnb credit to be used towards a stay when signing for a new club, moving on loan or as a free agent. They can receive the credit once per season and must apply to WSL Football to receive the grant.
Speaking exclusively to The Cutback, Zarah Al-Kudcy, WSL Football’s chief revenue officer, said the idea for the partnership was formed after it became clear there was a lack of support for players when relocating between clubs, and Airbnb often being used as a temporary solution.
“We all agreed relocation, because the contracts are shorter in the women’s game than the men’s game, that can mean that a lot of players move quite a lot. Moving house can sometimes be the most stressful thing and that shouldn’t deter from having to establish yourself at a new club, get to know a new city, and that’s why it worked out”.
While clubs do support players with temporary accommodation, this deal will help ease the pressure on player support budgets.
Airbnb has a similar partnership with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and International Paralympic Committee (IPC), which sees the platform distribute grants to athletes to support training and travel around the world. Airbnb has pledged to commit over $40 million in travel grants until 2028.
WSL Football hopes that the fund will also eventually be extended to coaching staff across the WSL and WSL2.
Alongside the accommodation fund, Airbnb will work with clubs and supporters’ groups to create experiences and accommodation options for fans as WSL Football continues to build away-travel culture across its two leagues.
Airbnb has built an experience offering in football through its multi-tournament partnership with Fifa. The catalogue of events that customers can book include a watch party with former UWSNT players Abby Wambach and Julie Foudy, training with former Argentina captain Javier Mascherano and a tour of the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City.
Airbnb, who join as official accommodation and unique experiences partner, become the latest premium brand to join WSL Football’s roster of sponsors, alongside Apple and Mercedes-Benz.
Al-Kudcy believes the recent movement of these brands is a result of wider sponsorship trends across sport: “I think it’s a reflection of women’s sport, not just women’s football, because we look at the partnerships in the WNBA, the NWSL, they have similarly premium brands coming in. I think that is a reflection of how those brands see women’s sport as servicing their target customers.
“Most of them also want younger, more female demographics, and that’s why we’re really good fit. I think we’re in a really good moment in time, Mercedes also invested heavily in WTA [Women’s Tennis Association], where these big premium brands understand that sport is where they can have a stickier customer base, and women’s sport serves them better than men’s sport does.”