Matildanomics

The FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023 is now at the pointy end at the semi-finals stage and crikey hasn’t it exceeded expectations! 

On the field the Australian Matildas have eliminated the talented France in a dramatic penalty shootout and have progressed deep into the tournament with star shooter Sam Kerr, arguably the best women’s player in the world, mostly on the bench nursing an injured calf. 

Off the field too, expectations have been exceeded with record upon record broken as the nation stops to follow the Matilda’s waltz to the final at the ground, at large screens, and in their lounge rooms. And it’s not just Australia, the other nations have had mass fan moments too – with teams like Colombia drawing on their large community in Australia to provide lively and colourful support for their team. 

The crowd numbers have been amazing. Almost 6 years ago, in 2017, I wrote a piece about the Matildas attracting just over 15,000 for a friendly against a fancied Brazil (Lisa de Vanna and Sam Kerr scored in a 2-1 win) but this pales into insignificance against the 75,000 plus crowds the team has been attracting in a tournament when all games have been well attended. 

Even before the quarter finals were played, Mandala CEO Amit Singh pointed out: 

“Previous tournaments such as Germany 2011 and France 2019 managed to fill relatively small venues but no World Cup until AU-NZ 2023 packed out large stadiums consistently. 

AU-NZ 2023 has hosted over 1.6 million spectators in stadiums so far, which is already 19% more than Canada 2015’s previous highwater mark of 1.4 million spectators. 

Television audiences are similarly huge, with broadcasters reporting that Australia’s Round of 16 win over Denmark drew larger audiences than recent grand finals of the NRL and AFL.” 

It’s not surprising as this is the biggest event Australia has hosted since the COVID19 pandemic and one of the biggest hosted since the Sydney 2000 Olympics. And hosting it with our Trans-Tasman cousins in New Zealand makes it extra special. 

Football Australia (FA) was excited about the economic impact before the kick-off. They anticipated $400 million plus in total benefits, including 3,000 full-time jobs and 60,000 visiting the country. And beyond tourism and broadcast rights, they were expecting a legacy of long term economic and social impact. 

According to Sarah Walsh, the FA’s Head of Women's Football, Women's World Cup Legacy & Inclusion even before the cup began they were” looking at 407,000 new participants coming into the game who are women and girls” and the need for providing adequate infrastructure, including soccer pitches, training facilities and change rooms. 

While the Matildas have a new state-of-the-art training facility in Melbourne, Walsh explained that ‘Legacy23’ attempts to balance this out, by emphasising facilities at the grass roots level as well for both girls and boys. 

This is why UTS, at the Centre for Sport, Business and Society, is investigating how greater participation in soccer, or any other active sport for that matter, helps to improve productivity and drive down health costs and related social expenditure. There has to be lasting economic and social benefits shared across the community for the long term if a major event is to be deemed successful beyond the big splash this year. 

After all, while we all love a Cathy Freeman, Sam Kerr or Steve Smith, we can’t have all our sports resources invested in the top 1 per cent of our talent. 

There is no trickle down in sports economics, nor does it work in the wider economy. Hence the policy framework that Legacy23 provides aims to boost the economic and social benefits of the World Cup across the community for decades to come. 

As Sarah Walsh says: “an event without a legacy, is just an event. We need to leverage the momentum to make the World Cup last beyond just a few weeks in 2023.” 

Tim Harcourt is Industry Professor and Chief Economist at IPPG at University of Technology Sydney (UTS) and host of Footynomics – The Economics of Sport www.footynomics.com.au