Are you excited to get stuck into the upcoming FIFA Women’s World Cup? Well, if you live in Australia, you’ll only be able to watch about 25 per cent of the tournament on a free-to-air television channel.
Fifteen matches of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup will be broadcast on a free-to-air network in Australia, with the remaining 49 matches only accessible via Optus Sport.
The Seven Network will host 15 of the matches (including all of the Matildas’ matches) live and on-demand across Channel 7 and 7 Plus. In good news, Optus Sport will make an additional 11 matches of the tournament available for free on its streaming platform. This means there will be a total of 26 matches available to watch for free across the Seven Network and Optus Sport throughout the World Cup. The arrangement will see at least one free match every match day.
Optus Sport will also provide free access to the highlights of every match via its streaming platform and on YouTube.
But, if you’re the kind of football fan who wants to watch most of the tournament (there are 64 games in total) and or dip in and out as you can – you’re going to have to pay up.
The gap in free-to-air coverage of the Women’s World Cup follows the men’s FIFA World Cup, held last year, which saw all 64 matches in the tournament broadcast on free-to-air, via SBS and SBS on Demand in Australia.
The FIFA Women’s World Cup marks a historic moment for Australian sport, as Australia and New Zealand are co-hosting for the first time. It’s also the first time the women’s tournament has been hosted in the southern hemisphere.
It’s a significant opportunity to build support for women’s football in Australia, but that’s made much more difficult when only 15 games will be broadcast on the Seven Network.
Amid a cost of living crisis, when most Australians are simply trying to get through each week, $24.99 to sign up to Optus Sport to watch every game during the World Cup is another expense that most could do without.
And on a social level, what message are we sending to football fans across Australia who want to get behind the women’s game? That women’s sport does not deserve as much accessible air time as men’s.