The creation of a new company (NewCo) which will take over the running of the WSL and Women’s Championship from the FA is perhaps the most significant of the government-backed recommendations from the review into the women’s game to come into force this year. It will give the women’s professional game a much-needed laser focus and an independent voice in the football ecosystem. The standalone, club-owned entity, will be fully operational from the 2024-25 season under talented CEO Nikki Doucet who will bring her wealth of experience, including with Nike, to the role. Nikki has the exciting and challenging job of creating the first ever billion-pound women’s football league and, as she settles into the hotseat, there are a number of pressing issues in her in-tray. One of the first, and one which will be a marker for the new regime and an indicator of the growth of the WSL, is the new media rights deal. When I was at the FA, we went to market on the last deal (a three-year agreement with BBC and Sky worth £8m a year) with a clear “reach over revenue” strategy. This resulted in 16 million people watching the WSL with over half of them (8.4 million) choosing to watch it exclusively from the men’s Premier League. Growing that awareness and audience was, and is, absolutely crucial to future success. I personally think the WSL is still in that reach and growth stage of its development and I’d love to see a free-to-air package of rights alongside a pay-per-view partnership for the foreseeable future. Establishing a dedicated broadcast slot for WSL and Championship matches will be vital if we want to further turbo-charge interest and grow audiences in our game. Karen Carney and the government have called on football’s stakeholders to find a regular slot or slots for the women’s game, with Saturday 3pm as a possible solution. We need all parties to come to the table quickly to agree this if we want to continue attendance and audience growth in the women’s game. With broadcast slots so hard to come by, I just hope that the WSL don’t regret the decision to go out so late in the market after both the EFL and the Premier League had secured new deals and with it the pick of the broadcast schedules. But, the new media rights deal is just one part of the huge revenue growth that will be needed to meet that billion-pound league ambition. Attracting brand sponsorship and driving match-day revenues will also be vital. When it comes to the latter, the NewCo frankly needs all the clubs to “do an Arsenal”. They have identified their biggest games, hosted them at the Emirates and invested in marketing them. The returns are there for all to see, with a record WSL crowd of 59,042 last month for the visit of Chelsea and an average this season of 31,216 (49,668 if you exclude their games played at Borehamwood) versus a WSL season average of 7,485. Arsenal have shown the art of the possible, and what a thrilling, exciting possible that is. The NewCo needs all of the clubs to step up and show the same investment, imagination and commitment. During my tenure as the FA’s director of the women’s professional game, I led the initial ownership review recommending a club-owned, independent entity, with the FA holding a golden share – effectively a right of veto on key matters protecting the overall pyramid. During those detailed NewCo discussions, one area all stakeholders could agree on was the need for upfront investment to help develop and market the product to maximise future revenues. One of Nikki’s first jobs will be to secure this partnership investment. Personally, I have never swerved from my initial view that this investment should come from within football. Whilst private equity has been knocking on the WSL door in recent years, this type of investment would inevitably mean some loss of controls and future revenue sharing. That’s why I would like to see either the FA or the Premier League step up and invest to help grow the leagues. The women’s game is bringing in a new, younger and more diverse audience to the game and with it, brands that want to connect with this audience. And as the WSL’s profile is increasing, it is also opening the door to thousands of female players, coaches, referees and administrators who believe that the national game can be for them too. Thanks to significant FA and National Lottery investment over the last 10 years, the game has grown exponentially but the long-term opportunity is for 50/50 male and female participation and that would provide incredible growth for the industry. Why would you not invest in that scale of growth of new fans and participants? The NewCo will also need to appoint a new board, ensuring it has the right expertise to drive what is effectively a start up. It needs expertise and experience in performance, talent development, sports governance and integrity alongside the obvious revenue growth skills and experience to help guide, support and challenge the executive. Reappointing the current WSL chair, Dawn Airey, would be a smart move. She has shown impressive leadership in what has, at times, been tense negotiations between the leagues and the FA. Dawn also played a key role in securing the current record-breaking media rights deal; helping grow audiences and revenue, enabling the leagues to move to this next, independent phase in its development. These are incredibly exciting times for our domestic game as it embarks on the next stage of its remarkable growth. NewCo has a lot to do in a short space of time, but with the support of government, the football authorities and with such a specific focus on clubs, I’m confident that as our national sport, it will not only unleash and deliver the huge potential that exists within the women’s game, but also transform women’s sport more broadly. Kelly Simmons is a sports consultant for Run Communications and former director of the women’s professional game at the FA. This is the first of a series of columns for the Guardian in 2024