Record audience surpasses last year’s total by 200,000 as the Women’s Football Alliance establishes itself as the next major women’s professional sports property
CANTON, OH — August 31, 2026 — The Women’s Football Alliance (WFA) announced today that its 2026 WFA Pro National Championship Game, broadcast live nationally on ESPN2 on July 25 from Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton, Ohio, reached 1.1 million unique live viewers, shattering the league’s previous viewership record by approximately 200,000 viewers.
Surpassing the one-million-viewer threshold represents another major milestone in women’s football history and provides further evidence of the rapidly expanding national audience for the sport.
Combined with the WFA’s national television presence, expanding commercial platform, international reach, and multi-million-dollar investment in its new national headquarters and football superstore at the Hall of Fame Village, the record audience reinforces what the organization has now firmly established: the WFA is the next major women’s professional sports property.
“This is a defining moment for women’s football,” said WFA Commissioner Lisa King. “More than 1.1 million people watched our Pro National Championship Game live on ESPN2. That audience, combined with the investment being made in our league, our athletes, our media platform and our permanent home in Canton, demonstrates that women’s professional football has arrived.”
The WFA’s multi-million-dollar investment at the Hall of Fame Village represents one of the most significant commitments to permanent infrastructure in the history of women’s football. The development includes the WFA’s new national headquarters and football superstore, giving the organization a substantial year-round presence at one of the most recognizable football destinations in the world.
The headquarters serves as the center of the WFA’s expanding operations, including professional football, media and broadcast initiatives, national and international events, sponsorship, licensing, merchandise, athlete development, youth programming, camps and clinics. The WFA football superstore will complement that presence by creating a year-round football retail destination serving athletes, teams, fans and the thousands of visitors attending football events throughout the Hall of Fame Village.
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