Australia to target 2034 FIFA World Cup following Matildas success

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Matildas
Image via Football Australia

The FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 has come to a conclusion, with the Matildas doing Australia proud by reaching the semi-final of the tournament – while receiving record breaking support from the nation.

Nearly two million viewers watched the Matildas’ historic television record-breaking opener of their much awaited FIFA Women’s World Cup campaign.

An average of 1.93 million people watched the joint host team’s opening match of the tournament on Seven and its online streaming service 7Plus, despite the surprising absence of famous skipper Sam Kerr. While the third place match against Sweden saw 6.25 million viewers tune in.

The team would re-write history in their semi-final match against England, becoming the most watched Television program in Australian history. The game reached 11.15 million Australians nationally, and had an average audience of 7.13 million according to Channel Seven.

Channel Seven’s head of network sport Lewis Martin, said via press release:

“The Matildas performance captured the Australian spirit like nothing we have seen in decades, Australia was captivated last night as the Matildas played their hearts out and did us all proud. The Matildas have rewritten the history books.”

On the back of the astonishing numbers and support the Matildas received, Australia are in a strong position to bid on hosting the 2034 FIFA Men’s World Cup, as Football Australia CEO James Johnson stated that it ‘would be discussed with New Zealand after the Women’s World Cup’.

As FIFA boss Gianni Infantino labelled it ‘the greatest Women’s World Cup ever’ – after a total attendance of 1,978,274 spectators – one could only imagine the support and views the event would bring on home soil supporting the Socceroos.

The 2026 World Cup is set to be hosted in North America across the United States, Canada and Mexico, with an expanded format of 48 teams. As the World Cup grows from 32 teams to 48, there will be 16 stadiums in 16 cities and 104 matches instead of 64.

Australia would be in a promising position to host the number of countries participating in the new World Cup format as the country has several world class stadiums across the nation, including the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) which would be a perfect venue for the final, holding a capacity of 100,000.

Australia must use the momentum of the Women’s World Cup to propose a serious bid to host in 2034.

Full statistics on FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia and New Zealand 2023 can be found here.

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‘Wunderbar’ – FC Bayern turns to enterprise AI with Wonderful partnership

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Image Credit: FC Bayern Munich

FC Bayern Munich is taking another step into the world of artificial intelligence after agreeing to a three-year global partnership with enterprise AI company Wonderful. The deal makes Wonderful the German club’s Official Enterprise AI Partner until 2029. The partnership will focus on putting AI into real-world use across Bayern’s operations, rather than limiting it to experiments or demonstrations.

AI to assists Matchday Fan Services

Wonderful’s first project will target one of the busiest and most varied areas of the club: matchday fan support. Specifically, initial implementation will be an AI agent designed to provide digital ticket support. Matchdays create a huge spike in demand for customer service for all manner of reasons: fans may struggle to access tickets, encounter account problems or need help with time-sensitive issues shortly before kick-off.

Bayern plans to use Wonderful’s technology to handle these requests faster than previously. Instead of each individual case entering a traditional support queue, the AI agent can process requests instantaneously, interacting with the club’s existing systems to hopefully resolve it. The aim is simple: get fans answers in moments, and into their seats!

The system will be integrated into Bayern’s existing technology environment – important as the AI will not operate as a separate chatbot disconnected from the club’s data and systems. It is being designed to work within the infrastructure Bayern already uses.

How Wonderful AI works

Wonderful describes its platform as an ‘enterprise AI system built to create, operate and improve AI agents.’ Those agents can perform tasks rather than simply generate text. They can work with company data, access connected systems and complete multi-step processes. The platform uses a system of reusable “skills”. Each skill can contain the instructions, tools, information and checks needed to complete a particular task. An agent can then use the appropriate skills depending on what a user needs.

For Bayern, that could mean an agent identifying that a fan has a ticket-access problem, retrieving the relevant information from the club’s systems and helping resolve the issue. Wonderful also connects its agents to existing enterprise systems. Its platform is designed to work with data platforms, customer relationship systems and other systems of record. This allows an agent to act on current information instead of relying solely on a static database.

More than a ticketing tool

Bayern and Wonderful have indicated further enterprise AI use cases will be introduced during the partnership. While customer support is an obvious starting point, AI agents could theoretically assist internal teams, automate administrative workflows or help employees find and process information.

Wonderful’s platform is designed to support customer-facing agents as well as internal and back-office workflows. It can operate across channels including chat, email and voice, giving the partnership room to expand beyond the first use case. The company also uses a deployment model built around teams working directly with organisations to put AI into production.

Bayern’s AI Strategy Enters a New Phase

The partnership signals a broader shift in how football clubs can use AI. Rather than focusing solely on analytics, Bayern is looking at AI as part of its everyday operations.

The first test will come through fan service. If the ticketing agent can reliably solve problems during the pressure of matchdays, the club will have a practical foundation for expanding AI into other areas. For the club, the biggest opportunity is therefore not one chatbot, but the creation of AI infrastructure that can support multiple parts of its organisation.

The three-year partnership gives the club and Wonderful time to develop that infrastructure. The first use case is focused and practical. The longer-term ambition is considerably broader. The next phase will be about proving that technology can make the experience better for fans while also making the organisation more efficient behind the scenes.

Football West and Keystart announce three-year grassroots partnership

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Image Credit: Football West

Football West has secured a new three-year naming rights partnership with Keystart, strengthening commercial support for Western Australia’s grassroots football competitions.

From the 2027 season, the men’s State League will become the Keystart State League, with the partnership covering the State League Night Series, Division One and Division Two competitions across First Team, Reserves and Under 18s, as well as the State League Awards.

The partnership will also see Football West rename its annual Junior and Senior Country Week carnivals Keystart Country Week from this year. The event brings regional football associations together in Perth during the September school holidays.

Keystart CEO Mark Tomasz said the partnership would provide the organisation with an opportunity to connect with Western Australians through grassroots football while supporting its broader home-ownership mission.

“We are proud to partner with Football West and support local grassroots football,” Tomasz said.

Football West CEO Jamie Harnwell said the organisation was delighted to secure the three-year commitment, describing the partnership as an important boost for the State League and Country Week.

“These are exciting times for grassroots football in WA,” said Harnwell.

The deal gives Keystart a significant presence across senior and regional football in WA, while providing Football West with longer-term commercial backing for two key areas of the state’s football ecosystem.

Keystart, a WA Government initiative, has supported more than 126,000 Western Australians into home ownership since 1989 through low-deposit and shared-equity home loans.

Partnerships of this kind play an important role in strengthening the grassroots sporting ecosystem, providing organisations with the commercial support needed to deliver strong community participation opportunities. They also give businesses a meaningful way to connect with local communities while contributing to the long-term growth and sustainability of the sport.

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