Football Australia chases record TV deal after Matildas success
Football Australia will attempt to leverage the on-field success of the Matildas and their history-making television ratings to secure a new multimillion-dollar broadcast deal for the national soccer teams.
The governing body’s chief executive, James Johnson, is expecting a record-breaking cash injection for the sport off the back of the FIFA Women’s World Cup. He says the money will be used to strengthen the national teams and boost participation at a grassroots level.
Mr Johnson said the ongoing success of the Matildas, who defeated France in a nail-biting penalty shootout on Saturday night, as well as the performance of the Socceroos at the Men’s World Cup in 2022, put the sport in the best possible position to make money from broadcasters.
His plans come as FIFA plans sit down meetings with each of Australia’s major TV networks this week to talk about the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup.
Sam Kerr leads Mary Fowler, Caitlin Foord and Steph Catley to celebratie the Matildas’ victory after a record-breaking penalty shootout.
“We believe that there needs to be a record-breaking investment in our broadcast deal, and we think that we deserve that,” Mr Johnson told The Australian Financial Review. “The reason that we’re looking for that increase in investment through broadcast is because we think it’s deserved… and secondly, we want to be able to reinvest that money back into our programs, so we can continue to lift them.”
Optus Sport and Seven West Media are the broadcast partners for the FIFA Women’s World Cup, but the rights to the Men and Women’s Asian Cup, friendly matches and qualifiers, sit with the Ten Network and its parent company, Paramount. The $100 million deal, signed in 2021, ends next year.
Mr Johnson said the
Read more on afr.com
