Matildas v France the ‘biggest night of sport since Sydney Olympics’

afr.com:

More than one stadium full of fans will be cheering on the Matildas in their quarter-final showdown against France on Saturday. Organisers and broadcasters are expecting record-breaking crowds and audiences across the country for the 5pm AEST kick-off.

Optus has announced the Melbourne Cricket Ground, the Sydney Cricket Ground, tennis stadium Rod Laver Arena and Sydney Olympic Park will host broadcasts of the game in what has been described as an “unprecedented move by the most iconic sporting stadiums across the country”.

Meanwhile, Channel Seven, which owns the free-to-air rights for the Matildas games, has changed the time of its news bulletin and worked with the AFL – which it also owns the broadcast rights for – to adjust its bounce times to cater for the demand to watch the World Cup.

Matildas player Mary Fowler, who has played a starring role in the campaign so far.  

“This Saturday will be a historic moment for all Australians, and the biggest night of sport since Sydney 2000,” Seven Melbourne managing director and head of network sport, Lewis Martin, said. The news will run after the Matildas game at approximately 7.30pm AEST.

The Matildas have been a huge drawcard for TV audiences. Their 2-0 victory over Denmark on Monday night was the most-watched program for the past year – at least – beating the AFL and NRL grand finals and State of Origin.

Its average of 3.63 million viewers was a step up from the previous game, against Canada, which drew an average of 2.4 million. The game against Ireland before that drew an audience of 1.93 million. Seven says its coverage has reached 9.35 million broadcast viewers and another 1.67 million on its 7plus TV app.

Saturday’s game against France at Brisbane Stadium in the