Football Australia and Commonwealth Bank begin partnership to grow women’s football

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Football Australia have today announced the start of a game-changing partnership with Commonwealth Bank.

Originally announced in April this year, today’s newly formed partnership will see Commonwealth Bank become one of the largest investors in Australian women’s football.

Millions of dollars are set to be injected into the elite women’s game and grassroots initiatives across the country over the next four years.

The bank will become the official partner and bank of the Commonwealth Bank Matildas, Commonwealth Bank Young Matildas, Commonwealth Bank Junior Matildas, Socceroos and more.

In addition, the partnership supports Football Australia’s 15-year vision and strategic agenda to increase women’s and girls’ participation in the sport that was pledged in the Legacy ’23 plan.

Monique Macleod, Commonwealth Bank Group Executive of Marketing and Corporate Affairs, acknowledged the significance of such a landmark moment for CBA and Australian football.

“This is an exciting time for women’s football; the Matildas recent performance on the world stage is showing young Australian women and girls they can achieve great things. We are ready to play our part in strengthening the game at all levels as we head towards 2023 and beyond,” she said.

“We are delighted to partner with Football Australia in supporting the Commonwealth Bank Matildas in their quest for glory on the world stage, and the future growth and development of the game across all levels.”

Football Australia Chief Executive Officer James Johnson added: “Our partnership with Commonwealth Bank represents a clear and strong alignment of values between our two organisations. It is also a significant endorsement of our vision for Australian football and our strategic priority to anchor the growth of the game in women’s football.

“We are already seeing Commonwealth Bank’s commitment to helping Football Australia provide opportunities for all Australians to play football, and to further strengthen the Commonwealth Bank Matildas’ position as an iconic brand, by helping us to reach more Australians than ever before.

“In recent weeks we’ve seen the Commonwealth Bank Matildas set the record for the largest audience for a women’s team sport in Australian TV history, with an average television audience of 1.87 million tuning in to watch Australia and Sweden in Tokyo. This is a sign of how this team is capturing the hearts and minds of Australians everywhere and with Commonwealth Bank’s support, we believe this team will continue to grow and reach new heights over the coming years.

“Commonwealth Bank’s support for the Socceroos also comes at a time when the team has reached its highest FIFA ranking since 2011, and readies itself for the next phase of the Asian Qualifiers – Road to Qatar with upcoming matches against China and Vietnam in the September Men’s International Match Calendar window.”

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“Big Brands Haven’t Truly Invested the Time for Women’s Boots” – Sam Turner on the lack of women-specific football boots

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Image credit: ThatFootballPodiatrist

In Episode 13 of Soccerscene’s Off the Pitch Podcast, podiatrist Sam Turner explored the topics of performance versus comfort in football boots, how important it is for professional and NPL athletes to have multiple pairs of boots and addressing the current long-standing issues in women’s sports footwear.

In this insightful chat, the topic of women’s football boots, more specifically the lack of sex-specific boots, was a hot topic and Sam Turner discussed the problems with the big companies ignoring this issue.

“This is a big one. It’s hard to determine whether it has an impact because we have no data. In terms of football boot research, since the 70’s there’s only been 500 papers on footwear and boots. Out of that, 10 have been on women,” Turner said.

“We’re going on a little bit of antiquated data that women’s feet are generally smaller and higher arched. We’re actually noticing that you can go to any women’s squad in the country, line them all up and you’ll have so many different feet.

“Most of the major companies will say it’s unisex which is a cop out and really have they actually invested the time? A lot of this is just marketing 101.”

The demand for women’s football boots is clearly there but Turner spoke about the lack of change in this area despite complaints from pro players.

“Is it the demand? Well half a million women are playing football in Australia at the moment; that’s a bloody big audience. Women’s Euros were huge and England won it again which is big,” he said.

“Out of the big companies, there’s only really four women’s based boots out there and there is 26 men’s based boots. So if you have a choice of four or 26, what are you going to choose? The one with more variety.

“There was a study in Europe which found that 82% of women found their current boots uncomfortable. This is of professionals in the top leagues in Europe. The question is: Why aren’t we doing more on that front?”

With the rapid growth of the women’s football space local and abroad, the need for research and boots that suit the differences in women’s feet become increasingly more important.

Click hear the full interview with Sam Turner, on Episode 13 of Soccerscene’s Off the Pitch Podcast – available on all major podcasting platforms.

Australia’s sleeping giant: the commercial reality of the A-League

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Image Credit: Sydney FC website

The A-League has immense commercial potential, just waiting to be realised.

As Australia’s premier football competition, it has access to a growing fan base and a flourishing global market.

As of late, there is also interest in both the men’s and women’s game. This has been capitalised on to some extent, with steady gains across sponsorship, broadcasting, and ticket sales.

The latest data regarding the A-League’s growth was released in June 2024. Statistical analysis compared the 2023/24 season to previous seasons.

The following was reported:

  • Television viewers for the A-League Men’s 2023/24 season were up 53% on Paramount+, 33% on 10 Play and 16% on Network 10.
  • Men’s and women’s club memberships increased 31% from the previous season.
  • Overall attendance across the A-League Men was up 7% year-on-year, with an average attendance of 8,600.
  • The A-League Men Grand Final reached 1.12 million on television, up 12% year-on-year.
  • Outbound transfers from A-League Men surpassed AUD 17 million since July 2023, marking a 79% increase on the previous season.
  • U23 player minutes in the A-League Men saw a 46% jump year-on-year.
  • Local and international sponsorship revenue grew 17%.
  • Total social community size grew to 9 million fans, a 44% increase year-on-year.

Despite this growth, the A-League’s true commercial value remains untapped.

A-League sponsorship growth

As mentioned above, the A-League’s sponsorship revenue increased 17% during the 2023/24 season.

The growth in sponsorship revenue can be largely attributed to two key deals: Isuzu UTE as the league’s naming rights sponsor and eToro as the Official Trading and Investing Platform.

Further, in September of 2024 – after the latest A-League sponsorship data was released – SharkNinja was announced as the new naming rights partner of A-League Women.

This partnership highlights the increasing interest in the A-League’s commercial offerings and the growth of the women’s game.

While these developments are promising signs of commercial momentum, they simply do not hold up to what other sports entities are doing in Australia and beyond.

Comparison to other leagues

According to SportBusiness, in 2021, Australia’s top five major sporting bodies collectively generated just under AUD 330 million in sponsorship revenue.

  • Tennis Australia: AUD 116.9 million.
  • Australian Football League: AUD 76.85 million.
  • National Rugby League: AUD 62.8 million.
  • Cricket Australia: AUD 53.1 million.
  • Rugby Australia: AUD 19.2 million.

While the A-League’s exact sponsorship revenue remains undisclosed, it is considered to fall substantially short of these figures.

With the combined revenue spread across 140 sponsorship deals, it is clear that these sports have a far broader commercial footprint than the A-League.

Currently, the A-League has only 12 sponsors in total; three principal partners, three major partners, three official partners and three broadcast partners.

By comparison, the National Rugby League has 12 major sponsors alone, with a total of 48 commercial partners.

This highlights the need for an expanded sponsorship base.

The A-League is also behind other football leagues.

Of course, it is unrealistic to expect it to compete with industry giants such as the Premier League or La Liga.

However, even smaller leagues are leaving the A-League behind.

The J.League and the A-League share a similarity in that they operate on domestic calendars that are offset from European leagues.

Despite this, the J.League currently has 43 official partners – nearly 4x as many as the A-League.

The official J.League 2024 financial report revealed their sponsorship revenue to be AUD 59.5 million (YEN 5.8 billion), reflecting the discrepancy in commercial scale between the two leagues.

Comparisons to the J.League and major Australian sporting bodies highlight the A-League’s limited sponsorship reach and the resulting constraints to its commercial revenue potential.

Conclusion

Interest in football is undeniable – it is the most popular sport in the world and the most widely played team sport in Australia.

Following the success of the Matildas in the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, women’s football is also on everyone’s radar.

The men’s and women’s games are attracting a growing audience, and the global market is at an all-time high.

The A-League’s commercial footprint over the last five years suggests it has capitalised on this to some extent.

However, more needs to be done. It is still trailing too far behind other sports in Australia and overseas football leagues.

The right steps need to be taken to fully capitalise on the A-League’s commercial potential and strengthen the status of football in Australia.

In a sense, the A-League is a dormant strength, with the potential to make big waves in Australia’s sporting landscape.

Now is the time to tap into that potential.

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