'There's lots of new content coming' - Women's football to expand in EA Sports FC as brand seeks advice from Chelsea star Sam Kerr

• EA SPORTS plans to add more women's football
• Chelsea star Kerr among those they're working with
• FIFA 23 had women's club football for first time

WHAT HAPPENED? After the introduction of international women's teams in 2016, women's club football was introduced for the first time in FIFA 23. Fans can play in England's Women's Super League, France's Division 1 Arkema, the National Women's Soccer League in the United States and the UEFA Women's Champions League - but more could be on its way.

WHAT THEY SAID: Speaking on the Footballco Business Podcast, David Jackson, vice president of brand at EA SPORTS, spoke at length about the presence of women's football in the FIFA games to date and what can be expected going forwards as the games transition into a new brand.

"It's phenomenally important for us that we elevate and accelerate women's football through our platform," he said. "I think the opportunity is immense and the opportunity for us to establish a platform for women's football to grow and scale is meaningful.

"I think you mentioned Sam Kerr in your question - we're really, really privileged to work with somebody as authentic [as her] and someone who transfers their love of the game so seamlessly and effortlessly from themselves to their communities and their fans.

"We spent a ton of time with her, understanding what it means and what it feels like and what it sounds like to be a female footballer right now, at the advent of what we hope and what we believe will be a phenomenal rise for that sport within the games.

"There's lots of new content coming to the platform. Even in FIFA 23, we added a bunch of leagues and we'll continue to do that. People can expect that to grow and scale because we think that we can access a brand new demographic through that content and we can serve players with the content that they love and they're beginning to kind of start a lifelong love affair with those leagues."

THE BIGGER PICTURE: After little progress following the integration of women's international football seven years ago, the past 12 months have seen big strides taken in the FIFA video game series, which will be known as EA SPORTS FC moving forward after an end to EA SPORTS and FIFA's three-decade partnership.

As well as the addition of four club competitions, FIFA 23 also had a women's footballer on its cover for the first time, with Chelsea star Kerr featured alongside Paris Saint-Germain forward Kylian Mbappe.

IN THREE PHOTOS:

EA SportsEA SPORTSEA SPORTS

WHAT NEXT? EA SPORTS' first game separate from FIFA will officially launch worldwide later this year, with a release date not yet official but expected to be around late September.

You can listen to the full episode of the Footballco Business Podcast here, in which Jackson discusses the creation of EA SPORTS FC, what can be expected from it in the future and lots more.