Players, coaches, and teams are hoping that upgraded venues and broadcast rights will bring increased exposure to the Netball Super League when it begins next weekend.
On International Women’s day, Saturday March 8, spectators will see all eight teams in action ahead of the regular season in a brand-new competition – the Netball Super Cup – at the Utilita Arena in Sheffield.
In this one-day competition, teams will be split into two pools for group stages with the successful teams progressing to semi-finals and final.
Charlotte Southall, head of netball at Bradfield College, said: “It’s exciting. It’s all new and hopefully should steer the sport in the right direction.
“I think it should get more people watching, hoping to make the games closer.”
A revised season format includes 14 weekly round matches after the Super Cup opener, with London’s O2 is hosting the Grand Final on Sunday July 6.
Over 50% of this season’s games are to be played at major arenas.
Claire Nelson, NSL managing director, told Sky Sports: “We’re thrilled and extremely proud to bring the 2025 NSL Grand Final to The O2 in London for the very first time and to showcase this electrifying event to our growing audience.
“It’s only fitting that our showpiece event takes place at one of the most prestigious arenas in the world and this will be a significant moment for our sport as we deliver not just a world-class event, but also an unforgettable experience for fans, players and everyone involved.
“So bringing our first season in the new era to a climax in a venue as iconic as The O2 will be a major moment for us all, and will make a real statement for the ambitions we have for our league and the boundaries that we will continue to push.”
The so-called NSL 2.0 features eight instead of the previous ten teams, and reduced playing squads of 10 to 12 players, with an average salary increase by at least 60%.
Six of the eight teams in the 2025 NSL already featured in the previous league including Leeds Rhinos, London Mavericks, London Pulse, Loughborough Lightning, Manchester Thunder and the renamed LexisNexis Cardiff Dragons.
London Mavericks’ goal shooter Emma Thacker told Sky Sports: “I think the sport’s been developing for such a long time, but I feel like this is the new step we had to take forward.
“I’m so grateful to be a part of this new set-up and I’m really excited to see where we can go this season as a club but also as a sport as well.”
The NSL recently announced major enhancement in coverage of the new league with Sky Sports, increasing planned coverage from one to three games per round.
Extended coverage will now see 75% of games this season available to watch live on TV, streaming, and YouTube channels.
Thacker added: “Arenas are great and packing them out is so important but it’s not always accessible for everyone to watch every team up and down the country.
“I think having live footage of us playing helps to build the sport and helps gives that accessible nature to everyone as well.”
The two new teams in the league making their first appearances are Birmingham Panthers and Nottingham Forest Netball.
Birmingham Panthers’ centre court player Ruth Hughes told Sky Sports: “It’s fantastic for women’s sport, we want to put it on a bigger platform.
“We want to engage many more fans, and I think the change in Super League this year is the way forward and the way to go for netball.”
Regular-season games begin on Friday March 14 with teams competing for league points across the first of 14 match rounds.
At the end of the league season, the top four teams then progress to the semi-finals on June 22.
In the semi-finals, the first and second place teams from the regular season face off in the major semi-final, with the third and fourth place teams playing in the minor semi-final.
The winner from the major semi-final goes straight to the grand final, with the loser then facing the winner of the minor semi-final in the new preliminary final on June 28.
The winner of that preliminary final will then face the winner of the major semi-final in the grand final at The O2.
Southall mentioned how, outside of London, there is no one local in the south of England for her to support, especially as Bath and Surrey Storm, who were based in Guildford, aren’t part of the new revised league.
She said: “I’m very disappointed that the geography was not taken into account and money seems to have played a bigger part in this move, with a reduced number of teams from the south outside London.
“But there was too much difference in the previous league.
“I would have personally preferred the same number of teams but then the 10-player cap, to ensure that teams don’t have players on the bench that are way better than a starting seven from another team.
“So many more girls are coming into schools knowing who players are and I worry the geography will have an impact.
“However, I do think some netballers may become household names due to reduction in team members.”
She concluded: “I will gun for Chelsea Pitman, head coach at Nottingham Forest, to do well in her new role and equally Birmingham will probably be ones to watch for me.”
The NSL has also introduced to some controversy with a two-point super shot rule.
This will allow shooters to score two points from a dedicated area on the edge of the shooting circle during the last five minutes of each of the four quarters of every match.
Southall said: “I think the new rule could make score lines completely blow out even more.”
Featured image credit: Ian Ritchie with thanks
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