Football NSW & QLD secure landmark OTT streaming service for NPL

Liam Watson

Football NSW have confirmed there will be a new way for fans from both New South Wales and Queensland to watch games with the roll out of a brand new streaming service.

For details, please see the media release by Football NSW Media Manager Mark Stavroulakis:

SYDNEY

Friday 13th March

Fans of National Premier Leagues NSW have an exciting new destination to catch the action with Football NSW and Football Queensland today launching a landmark streaming service in partnership with leading sports media and data agency Sportradar. 

The new NPL.TV platform will broadcast more than 1,000 free, live and on-demand games throughout the 2020 season, with thrilling talent, goals and drama from the NPL Men’s and Women’s competitions becoming more accessible than ever. 

Football NSW CEO Stuart Hodge said: ”NPL fans are among the most passionate in Australia and NPL.TV will provide fans with a feast of live games, replays and highlights each week. The success of our live broadcasts over the past four seasons has seen increased interest and support for our NPL NSW competitions and by introducing the new service we will make our competitions more accessible to supporters in Australia and around the world.

Football NSW Head Of Commercial Brian Meinrath said,“Our partnership with Football Queensland and Sportradar is a defining moment for the National Premier Leagues.  NPL.TV provides us with the means to control the delivery of the NPL to our fans and monitor how they interact with our content..  By aggregating content on the one platform, it gives us a huge opportunity to present existing fans with superior live and on-demand content as well as showcase our leagues to a new and expanding audience.”

The new OTT service is compatible with Chromecast and Airplay, allowing content to be streamed from mobile devices to television screens.

NPL.TV is free to Australian-based fans and will initially be available through all web browsers, with iOS and Android apps available soon. 

Subscribers can also upgrade to a ‘premium’ Full HD offering for a small monthly charge. 

The move from social media streaming to Sportradar’s OTT platform enables Football NSW to control the content, access deeper, data-driven insights into viewer behaviour and to tell more engaging stories to fans. 

David Edwards, Director of Sports Media and Partnerships, Oceania, Sportradar, said,“Today’s partnership agreement is the first-of-its-kind in the region and we’re proud to have jointly developed the OTT platform with Football NSW & Football Queensland. 

“Competitions are thriving across various footballing codes in Australia at the moment, and we’re seeing an increasing demand from both state-based and national sporting federations in establishing direct-to-consumer streaming platforms.  

“Niche competitions suit the OTT distribution model by allowing rights holders to take control of their assets and develop a direct relationship with their fans on their own terms. We look forward to helping National Premier Leagues competitions increase digital revenues and supercharge their fan engagement through our unique, data-driven approach to OTT.”

Football fans will be able to begin accessing live streams, highlights and full match replays at NPL.TV from Friday, 20 March. 

Stay tuned for more information on how to access the NPL.TV platform. 

ENDS

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Football Australia Expands Mental Skills Program for Match Officials Amid Sustained Focus on Referee Retention

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Image Credit: Football NSW

Football Australia has confirmed a second national webinar for match officials, led by sports psychologist Dr Liam Slack, extending a referee development series introduced after strong engagement with an initial session on managing match-day pressure.

The upcoming session, themed “parking with purpose,” will focus on decision-making strategies designed to help referees process on-field calls and reset attention quickly across a match that can present hundreds of individual decisions. Dr Slack, who also consults with The Football Association and the AFC Referee Academy and previously spent over a decade as a performance psychologist with the Professional Game Match Officials Limited in England, brings substantial elite-level experience to a program open to officials at every level, from grassroots to professional.

The theme builds on work Dr Slack has already delivered within Australian officiating. He recently led a session with Football Australia’s National Referee Academy on the same concept, framing the ability to consciously park a decision and refocus on the next phase of play as a trainable skill rather than an innate trait, one that separates officials who reset quickly under pressure from those who don’t. He has also addressed more than 100 Football Australia elite match officials and staff on developing a stronger match-day mentality, an indication of how embedded this psychological framework has become across the officiating pathway rather than remaining a one-off intervention.

The expansion of the webinar series reflects a broader shift in how football administrators are approaching referee attrition. Rather than treating retention purely as a recruitment or pay problem, the program signals an institutional acknowledgment that the psychological demands of officiating, particularly the compounding pressure of split-second decisions under public scrutiny, are a material factor in whether officials remain in the game.

It rests alongside other measures adopted across Australian football in recent years, including visible identification programs for junior referees and structural reviews of referee departments at state federation level, all aimed at the same underlying issue: a shrinking pool of match officials relative to demand.

Football Australia has not detailed metrics for assessing the program’s impact on referee numbers, though the recurring engagement of an internationally credentialed specialist across multiple tiers of the officiating pathway suggests sustained institutional investment in the approach.

Football Victoria elevates fan enjoyment with Streets partnership

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Image credit: Prostock-studio / Shutterstock.com

Football Victoria (FV) revealed last week a new partnership with ice cream giants, Streets. The brand will become an exclusive ice cream partner for the next three years.

 

An iconic brand for joyful experiences

As a well-known and popular ice cream brand with people all around the nation, Streets will now look to support the fan experience in Victoria through its products.

It reflects FV’s commitment to delivering a family-friendly and memorable experience for spectators. Both on and off the pitch, the organisation is striving to elevate the experience for fans and families alike.

“Football Victoria is always looking for ways to elevate the experience at The Home of The Matildas, and this partnership does exactly that,” explained FV Executive Manager of Commercial and Facilities, Chris Speldewinde.

“It’s a fantastic fit for our community and we’re looking forward to what the next three years will bring.”

Furthermore, Senior Brand Manager at Streets, Ryan Katz, emphasised the brand’s role in community sport and in creating memories beyond the action on the pitch.

“Streets is proud to join Football Victoria as its exclusive ice cream partner,” Katz said.

“There’s nothing better than enjoying a great game with a classic ice cream in-hand, and we’re excited to be part of those moments across the state.”

 

Understanding community football

Community football is all about these moments. Sunny days, the family together, and a sweet treat in-hand while supporting a local team alongside friends and neighbours.

This is why a partnership between FV and Streets is particularly important.

Not for its commercial value, but for what it tells us about both parties’ understanding of what matters to fans. From young fans to experienced matchday-goers, everyone wants to find enjoyment while watching the game.

And while the 90 minutes of action is the focus, the experience of a local matchday is truly defined by interactions with fellow supporters and smaller – but no less significant – moments of happiness during the day.

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