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Optus Sport is the right platform to show 2023 Women’s World Cup
In what is a major coup for the streaming platform, Optus will showcase all 64 games of a tournament which is set to be the biggest sporting event held on Australian shores since the Sydney Olympics in 2000.
Optus have announced however, that key matches such as all Matildas games will also be co-broadcasted on a free-to-air channel.
Overall, one match a day of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia will be shown on free-to-air.
Alongside the games, the telecommunications company will produce a range of additional digital content and programming such as preview and review shows.
The rights are a major coup for Optus and Australian football fans should be satisfied that the company is showcasing the tournament.
Optus, over the past few years, have built up a strong portfolio of football rights content in Australia which includes the English Premier League, J-League and international football tournaments like the Copa America and European Championships.
Their strong coverage and care for their product offerings shine through on their streaming platform, something which hasn’t been the case in recent years for competitions such as the A-League on Foxtel.
Optus also have a notable short-term history of showcasing top tier women’s football on their service, including the 2019 Women’s World Cup in France and the FA Women’s Super League, with the UEFA Women’s Euro 2022 set to also be shown in the build-up to the 2023 Women’s World Cup.
Optus Vice President of TV, Content and Product Development, Clive Dickens, believes women’s football is a core element of Optus Sport’s elite football offering, resulting in unprecedented coverage that would lead to even more Australian fans to women’s football.
“We have built an unparalleled pedigree in enhancing and supporting women’s football and building unique customer relationships with football fans, from the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2019 in France to being amongst the first broadcasters of the Barclay’s FA Women’s Super League, to recently securing the exclusive rights to the UEFA Women’s EURO 2022 in England,” he said.
“The FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 represents a huge opportunity to help drive growth and visibility of women’s football in Australia and deliver football fans the best-ever coverage.
“We are committed to changing the future children see and the importance of promoting women in sport to drive that change. It is a privilege, and an endorsement of our credentials by FIFA, to be awarded the rights to showcase this monumental event,” Dickens concluded.
The Australian football community have responded in kind to Optus’ treatment of both men’s and women’s football, with the telco currently having over 888,000 active subscribers on their streaming platform.
Those numbers will continue to lift in the years to come, especially now that they have further invested significant funds into showing the biggest event in women’s football.
“The FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 is not just a football tournament, it’s one of the world’s biggest events and to host it in Australia and New Zealand is a dream come true. Young boys and girls, mums and dads will get the chance to see their role models – the Matildas – who are amongst the best players in the world,” said former Matilda and Optus Sport pundit Heather Garriock.
Optus broadcasting the 2023 Women’s World Cup seems like a move which is good for them, but also good for football.
When Nestory Irankunda, Lucas Herrington and Alessandro Circati all completed high-profile moves, the headlines understandably focused on the massive transfer fees
Record deals, European giants, Australian talent making noise overseas.
But beneath the excitement lies a much bigger story.
For years, Australian football measured success by the players it could retain and attract. Today, success is increasingly being measured by the players it develops and sells.
That shouldn’t be looked at as a weakness of the domestic game.
It’s one of the A-League’s greatest strengths.
Changing landscape
The reality is, Australian clubs will continue to struggle to compete financially with Europe’s elite.
Trying to retain every emerging star was always going to be an impossible task.
Instead, clubs are embracing a model that has proven to be successful in countries across Europe and in leagues like the MLS in the United States.
Develop talented young players, provide them with first-team opportunities and a platform to showcase their talent.
Last year the A-League ranked in the top five for percentage of minutes by players aged 21 or younger across 55 leagues around the world.
These three recent transfers are not an isolated story, they are part of a broader trend.
European clubs are watching Australian football as closely as they ever have. The talent is there.
The World Cup effect
The Socceroos’ performance on the international stage have played a significant role in changing perceptions.
Australia is no longer viewed simply as a physical football nation. Increasingly, Australia is producing technically capable players who can adapt to the demands of Europe’s top leagues.
This exposure has provided players with a stronger opportunity to impress and demonstrate their ability.
The result is a transfer market where Australian players are genuine investments and viewed as integral pieces to a club’s future.
More than transfer fees
The financial benefit of player sales is obvious.
Transfer revenue provides clubs with opportunities to reinvest in academies, facilities, coaching and football operations.
But the impact extends much further.
Every Australian success story abroad raises the profile and trust of the domestic development system.
It encourages and gives European clubs greater confidence to scout Australian football more regularly and more intently.
It creates stronger relationships between local clubs and overseas markets and perhaps most importantly, it gives the next generation a clear pathway to elite football.
The next challenge
Evidently, producing talented players is not Australia’s most pressing challenge
Producing them consistently will be the real measure of how Australian football has progressed.
That requires continued investment in academies, coaching, facilities and national competitions.
Nestory Irankunda’s transfer to Sporting CP will reportedly fetch his junior club Adelaide Croatia Raiders approximately $220,000 under Fifa’s solidarity mechanism.
Fees like this are a reminder of the importance of well-developed pathways and a clear indication of how valuable strong investment in grassroots football can be.
Opportunity, not loss
Whenever another young Australian leaves for Europe, there is often discussion about what the A-League has lost.
Perhaps the better question is what Australian football has gained.
Every major transfer signals growing confidence in the country’s development pathway.
Every overseas success makes it easier for the next player to follow.
While it would be incredible to watch Nestory Irankunda play in the A-League every week, we should feel proud watching him play in the UEFA Champions League this year.
His journey is a reflection of the A-League’s success in giving young Australian footballers the opportunity and platform to reach that level.
Australia is unlikely to ever compete with Europe’s biggest leagues for salaries and prestige.
But it doesn’t need to.
If the game continues investing in youth development and embraces its position as one of the region’s leading producers of football talent, exporting player’s won’t be an indication of decline.
It will be a platform for fans to watch the next generation of world-class Socceroos playing right here on our own shores.
The A-League has just lost a Victorian club. The death of Western United and the suspension of its license by the Australian Professional Leagues (APL) on August 10th was inevitable. The club says it wants to rebuild and eventually return to the competition. That is unlikely to happen considering the search for new owners has to begin.
But one day after the announcement from Western United, South Melbourne stepped forward. The four-time NSL winners announced their intention to begin formal discussions with the APL about joining the A-Leagues. They believe the timing is right. Their argument is understandable. Their football credentials and history are stronger than most A-League teams.
But there is a problem. South Melbourne may have the history. It may have the supporters. It may even have one of the most attractive potential derbies in Australian football. But that does not mean it will get an A-League licence.
In fact, the more realistic prediction from my perspective is that South Melbourne will once again be told no.
South Melbourne has never been better placed
There is plenty to like about South Melbourne’s position. The club is not simply relying on its history. South Melbourne returned to national competition through the inaugural Australian Championship in 2025. It did not merely participate. South Melbourne won it. The club defeated Marconi Stallions 2-0 in the final to become the competition’s first champion.
That achievement matters. The Australian Championship was created to bridge state-based football and the professional game. Whilst it is seen as a second tier, there is no promotion and relegation with the A-League. But it has also continued to perform on the national stage. In the 2026 Australia Cup, which South Melbourne qualified for, they reached the final rounds and then produced one of the biggest results of the tournament.
Adelaide United came to Lakeside Stadium. South Melbourne won 2-1. Adelaide had won the Australia Cup three times. South knocked them out in front of its own supporters. They’re now into the quarter-finals of the 2026 Australia Cup.
South Melbourne celebrating the Australian Championship Image Credits: South Melbourne FC
The club also has a much bigger story to tell than its recent results. Alongside its four NSL victories, the club also won the 1999 Oceania Club Championship and represented Oceania at the 2000 FIFA Club World Championship. The club has a dedicated supporter base and the history to deserve a place.
The club says its Oceania Professional League participation has helped make it Australia’s 13th professional football club. It has more than 150 businesses supporting it in 2026 and a long-term arrangement at Lakeside Stadium, in the heart of South Melbourne.
On paper, it is difficult to argue that South Melbourne is not ready. The problem is that readiness and admission are two different things.
Third time’s the charm?
South Melbourne’s current push is not new. It has been here before. The club was pursuing an A-League return almost immediately after the NSL disappeared. In 2007, South announced its interest in becoming the second Victorian A-League club.
Then came the 2008-09 process. South Melbourne backed the Southern Cross bid for the second Victorian licence. The club proposed a new team based around the redevelopment of Bob Jane Stadium and involvement from the broader Victorian football community.
It lost. The Melbourne Heart bid won the race and eventually became Melbourne City. That was South Melbourne’s first major warning. Its football heritage was not enough. Its second major attempt came almost a decade later.
The 2017-18 expansion process produced the most serious South Melbourne bid yet. South made the shortlist for an expanded A-League licence. It ultimately lost to Western United. Bill Papastergiadis has since explained that he did not genuinely expect South Melbourne to win in 2018, despite believing strongly that the club belonged in the A-League. He also reflected on the barriers facing a traditional club trying to enter the existing Victorian professional football ecosystem.
That is important context for today’s bid. South Melbourne is not entering negotiations without understanding how difficult the politics and economics of the Victorian football market can be. The club has tried the direct route twice. Neither time worked.
The Western United lesson
This is where the current situation becomes complicated. In isolation, adding South Melbourne would be fantastic for the A-League. Imagine South Melbourne against Melbourne Victory. The atmosphere would be enormous.
There is a genuine football rivalry waiting to happen. South itself points to the potential for ready-made derbies and commercial interest. But the argument that Melbourne should simply have three A-League clubs because Melbourne is a huge city ignores what has just happened to Western United.
Western United was supposed to represent Melbourne’s rapidly growing west. Its original vision centred on a major project in Geelong. The club eventually moved into Ironbark Fields in Tarneit in 2024.
Yet the geographic separation never became as clear as the original concept suggested. Western United was not a Geelong club. It was not a regional Victorian club in the traditional sense. It was a western Melbourne club based and that matters.
The A-League already has Melbourne City and Melbourne Victory. Adding South Melbourne would give the competition three clubs operating within the same metropolitan football market. It is not necessarily brilliant for the business model, which has already lost a club operating on the outskirts of Melbourne.
The NSL offers an interesting historical comparison. The Falcons provide an even more striking Victorian example. They became the first and only regional Victorian club to play in the NSL, reaching the finals in 1996. The distinction is important.
A national competition can expand its footprint by adding genuinely new markets. That is different from adding another club inside an existing Melbourne metropolitan market. That was what was envisioned for Western United, and it failed quickly.
Will the APL see South Melbourne as a safe investment? Despite the fact they’re a well-established club, I’d argue the answer is no.
Promotion and relegation is the only realistic route
There is one scenario where South Melbourne could eventually force its way into the A-League, and that’s the great missing piece of Australian football. Promotion and relegation. South Melbourne would not need somebody to decide that Melbourne suddenly has room for another licence. It would simply need to earn it.
They would have done just that in 2025, winning the Australian Championship if the football pyramid was open. Football Australia originally designed the National Second Tier with the possibility of promotion and relegation being considered once the competition matured.
The format connects NPL clubs and established foundation clubs with national competition. It does not provide a sporting pathway into the A-League. South Melbourne can win the Australian Championship, NSL and Australia Cup but none of those achievements automatically produce an A-League licence.
South Melbourne in the Oceania Championship Image Credits: Oceania Championship
Opening the pyramid is far more complicated than simply announcing promotion and relegation. Australia’s football calendar is fragmented. The A-League operates primarily through the summer months. The NPL operates through the winter and early spring. For the 2026-27 season, the A-League Men runs from October to June, while the NPL begins in February and finishes in September.
That creates an enormous structural problem for a fully connected pyramid. The clubs below the A-League would need to operate at a level capable of supporting professional football. If the A-League aligned with the NPL and the lower pyramid, it would compete in a football calendar that already has to coexist with Australia’s other major winter sports. That is a difficult feat against bigger leagues such as the AFL and NRL.
Beyond that, clubs lower down would need travel budgets and to survive commercially would take real sacrifice from all parties to make that work. The A-League’s existing clubs also have something to lose. They have invested heavily in their licences and their businesses.
Historically, A-League licences were extended through to 2034, while those licence arrangements have included provisions allowing promotion and relegation to be introduced. But the existing clubs will do everything in their power to block it. Promotion and relegation removes certainty. An A-League club can finish last in the current system with no threat to their place. Under relegation, its place is no longer guaranteed.
That is a major commercial change for clubs that have invested in securing their position in the competition. It is therefore difficult to imagine the A-League opening the door. The A-League’s licensing system gives the competition enormous control over who enters, and for South Melbourne historically they’ve been left out in the cold.
South Melbourne deserves the conversation.
The frustrating part is South Melbourne has probably never had a stronger argument. It has history, supporters, infrastructure, commercial support and most importantly, ambition. Beating A-League clubs in national competition proves the capability is there.
It deserves to be in the conversation. But being in the conversation is not the same as being selected. The Western United experience should be a warning. If the A-League could not make the Western United project work, it is difficult to see why it would suddenly decide that another Melbourne club is the answer.
South Melbourne may be the better football story. It may even be the better football club. But the A-League is not simply selecting the best football story.
It is selecting a professional competition, and until Australia embraces a genuine promotion and relegation system, South Melbourne’s path back to the top flight will remain dependent on someone handing it a licence.
That is the part of the dream that looks unrealistic. South Melbourne can keep knocking and it should. They always say third time’s the charm. But unless the pyramid is opened, I expect the door to remain closed.
