Optus Sport’s Clive Dickens on his role leading content for the Women’s World Cup

Liam Watson
Image provided by Optus Sport

Even before the FIFA Women’s World Cup was on the horizon, Optus Sport had already made its mark in Australian football.

At this point, Optus have cemented themselves as the place to watch all major events and leagues, including the men’s and women’s Premier League, Spanish LaLiga, Japan J. League and Korean K League.

Fully supporting the Matildas in the upcoming Women’s World Cup, you’ll be able to see every game of the national team live and on demand.

It’s this commitment that has seen FIFA name Optus as an Official Supporter of the Women’s World Cup, adding to the confirmation that Optus is the Official Broadcaster of the tournament.

Clive Dickens, Vice President, Television, Content and Product Development of Optus, spoke with Soccerscene about Optus’ growth as an organisation, the buzz around the World Cup, how to leverage the viewing audience and plans for the future.

Tell us about your thoughts leading into the World Cup itself?

Clive Dickens: The Women’s World Cup was awarded to Australia two and a half years ago and we have a deep history at Optus Sport of broadcasting World Cup content.

We were the only place to watch all games from the 2019 Women’s World Cup in France, and we were also the partner of SBS in 2018. We’ve also broadcast the FIFA Club World Cup as well in the past. So, we bid for those rights when Australia and New Zealand were nominated as the host countries and through a very aggressive tender process.

We’ve invested enormously in the product and platform and team to become the official broadcaster. We’ll have brand new studio facilities, production facilities, hundreds of people working on that coverage, five remote teams across two countries collecting content from all the 11 cities where there are games being held, and see all 64 games live on demand with highlights, goals, mini matches etc.

As Optus itself is an official supporter, we’ll leverage all the fantastic tournament tickets, content, imagery and intellectual property across all of our 400 stores and thousands of channel experiences. A bit like some of the other official supporters and partners, this is an incremental investment in the sport.

What’s your take on how the viewing audience consumes content?

Clive Dickens: A lot of fans won’t sit down and watch the entire game or the whole second half or even a replay or long highlights.

But they will see amazing goals, athletes and content stories across social platforms. Whether it’s across TikTok, Snapchat YouTube or Facebook, or whether it’s on LinkedIn or Twitter, we’re confident that our content will reach 20 million of the 25 million Australians.

That’s really what will benefit the women’s game enormously. It wasn’t that long ago when the women’s game was a minority sport. Being a host nation and an official broadcaster and supporter of a telco and digital business, we will be able to bring this to not only our 10 million customers, but we confidently predict 20 million Australians will see at least five minutes of our coverage of the event, making it by far the biggest event in this country since the 2000 Olympics and prior to the Brisbane 2032 Olympics.

You started with Optus in May 2019, what have you observed from when you started?

Clive Dickens: Each year, there’s been 40% growth on the prior year in terms of engagement and subscribers. This is the beautiful world game, it is the fastest growing game in the world, even though it’s one of the oldest. There is no sport in the world that’s growing faster. And we’ll see that over the next five years with the 2026 Men’s World Cup in USA, Canada, and Mexico.

One of the big watershed moments was the Euro 2020 Championships. Here in Australia, that still holds the record for the largest ever live streamed event in the history of the Australian Internet, where 675,000 devices connected to our origin service to watch England lose to Italy between 4am and 7am in June 2021. No single sporting event has ever had a larger online audience than that in Australia. Not a Grand Final, not Ashes Cricket, not an Australian Open.

Part of the reason for that is because all those events I mentioned are also carried on broadcast TV, whereas the Euro 2020 tournament that was played in ’21 was exclusively online. But if you think that number of 600,000 to 700,000 concurrent devices peak, that was England versus Italy with not a single Australian playing there. And it was at 4am to 7am. Now fast forward, we’ve got the Matildas playing the Republic of Ireland and hopefully going through from the group stage or the finals. This is a prime-time event. No Matildas games are before five or six in the evening. Before we had to get up early, but we won’t need to in Australia. You’ve got this confluence of factors that have never been seen before in football.

How do you assess the international appeal of Australia?

Clive Dickens: In Sydney they’re currently building the Fox Sports America Women’s World Cup Studio, a huge construction that’s going on just under the Harbour Bridge, because NBC, Peacock, Telemundo and Fox Sports are the combined official broadcasters of the tournament in America. What this means is that the tournament is going to be a huge platform for Australian tourism across all those networks. The world champions, America, are going to obviously do very well, even if they don’t go all the way. This will create amazing platform of inspiration for our country, following on from the pandemic, where we will be able to showcase the best of Australia to a huge global audience.

I go past this studio construction every day and they are building one spectacular set right with the Harbour Bridge as the backdrop. For 10 to 12 hours a day, Sydney and the whole of Australia and New Zealand is going to feature as a backdrop to British, European and American broadcasting. This is an incredible moment for the country’s tourism industry as well off the back of the pandemic.

What is Optus Sport doing to help promote the tournament?

Clive Dickens: We’ve got hundreds of licensed venues where you can watch all 64 football games, including clubs, pubs and casinos where you can watch it with other fans in the warmth of the indoors, because it is winter in Australia and a little bit cooler. A lot of this shared experience is going to be in venues. We’ve also got dozens of FIFA fan zones – public parks where councils are applying for free licenses to stage fan zones. For example, in one Sydney council area alone – the Inner West Council – there will be infrastructure set up in six parks to watch games. That’s six in just one Local Government Area. There will be other councils in other cities doing the same. It’s a daytime event, the first game kicks off at 11am, and the last game whistle blows at 11pm. What could be better? No staying up late at night, no setting your alarm early.

One of the big differences you would notice as a football fan is the profile difference in the type of supporters. Women’s football has a much, much younger supporter base than men’s because men’s football is steeped in history. In the UK, it’s like 180 years. The average club in Premier League is 100 years old. To get even football in the major leagues, it’s quite expensive. You’ve got to be a member and got to buy a season ticket. That tends to favour people who have handed down their team from granddad to dad, to son or to family. And it’s expensive to go and watch big flight teams across Europe. It’s less expensive with the A-League, but it’s pricey. Whereas women’s football is typically much younger audience and is much less male. For example, over 80% of our subscribers are male, but we’re predicting 55 % of our FIFA Women’s World Cup audience to be female. So, you’ve got a younger, more female fan base.

Whether that’s in the stadium or elsewhere, the atmosphere is completely different. The chants are different. The songs are different. Because you put 60 % women in one place versus 80 % men, it feels very different. Like going to a concert is different. You’ve got a rock act or you’ve got a pop act. Therefore, not only is a game a little bit different on the pitch, but the audience is very different. So that’s one of the reasons why it’s going to be so enormous. For example, my 21-year-old daughter and her friends are not really interested in men’s football at all, but they’re all on my case about getting tickets for the FIFA Women’s World Cup because they see themselves on the pitch. They see this as a leveling up and a real difference around how the women’s game is played.

How do you think the Matildas will fare and thoughts on the tournament overall?

Clive Dickens: We have one of the best players in the world, if not the best, in Sam Kerr. When you couple that with the team on form and home ground advantage, this is the moment.

Just imagine if Matildas can make it to the final. I don’t want to tempt fate, but I think they can even get through to the quarter finals, which will feel like a final for Australia. A quarter final World Cup, something that no Women’s or Men’s team have ever achieved – anything after that is a bonus.

The thing about this event is that when we’re watching these incredible athletes, whether they’re American or from the Philippines or from New Zealand or Australia, it’s going to inspire millions of people, particularly young Australians.

That’s what sporting tournaments and amazing athletes do. They inspire people to go off and do amazing things, beyond just going outside to kick the ball around. As a high participation sport, football is the beautiful world game that’s growing faster than any other in the world.

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Beyond the Pitch: Miyuki Kobayashi on the Real Challenges Facing Japan’s Women’s Game

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Image credit: JEF United

Last week, Soccerscene spoke to pioneer of women’s football in Japan, Miyuki Kobayashi, about the game’s development in Japan and the intersection between sporting and social change in the country.

 

Talent, quality and recent silverware

After Japan’s recent AFC Women’s Asian Cup victory in the final against Australia, the women’s national team solidified its standing as the No.1 team in Asia.

Throughout the last 15 years, Japan’s women’s national team has grown into a formidable opponent, boasting a World Cup trophy, an Olympic silver medal, as well as three AFC Women’s Asian Cups.

The talent is undeniable. The quality is unwavering. And the team shows no signs of slowing down.

But these victories and trophies on the world stage wouldn’t be possible without the leaders behind the scenes – none more so than Miyuki Kobayashi, former WE League Board Member and current JEF United Ladies Scout and Academy Chief.

 

Laying the foundations

Kobayashi has led the charge for women’s football in Japan, promoting not only a sport which values success, but one which empowers female footballers across the nation.

“At university, not many girls were playing and we didn’t have an official team. I went to the US and the environment was so different,” Kobayashi explained.

“That opened my eyes – women can play. That’s how I started the women’s soccer league when I came back: to make an environment for girls to play.”

Thus, accessibility and opportunity became driving factors behind Kobayashi’s work, not only for those on the pitch, but for those in the dugout.

“I got involved at the JFA (Japanese Football Association) to promote women’s football. We wanted to create the opportunity for women to be coaches.”

“They are coached by men all the time, so even when the top players leave the football world, they never think to be involved.”

Furthermore, as a former coach of JEF United Ladies Youth and General Manager, Kobayashi was intent on employing as many female coaches as possible. It was not merely a personel change, but a challenge to widespread social attitudes.

“When I started to employ female coaches, the girls’ parents asked why the coach wasn’t a man. But gradually, we started to make it equal – they didn’t talk about the gender, but about the quality of the coach.”

 

The mission to empower

In 2011, the same year Japan’s women won the World Cup, the domestic league was yet to become professional. Known as the Nadeshiko League, players would work during the day and train in the evenings.

The transition from an amateur to the current professional league required time, resilience and a change in perspective.

“The sports world in Japan is more traditional – it is dominated by men,” said Kobayashi.

“If you want to make the environment even, or (want) more women to come into the (football) world, you can change the mind of the players.”

Since 2021, the WE League has embodied a sense of growth and positive change for the women’s game. In name and nature, it looks to empower players, coaches and all involved in the industry.

“I was in charge of mission achievement for women’s empowerment. We wanted to educate the players, to inspire girls and women who watch the game.”

However, the drive to empower women in football was not without backlash and challenges.

“Some people don’t like that word: ’empowerment’. It’s too strong for them. Some women really appreciate it, but it’s not easy to change the mind of society through football,” Kobayashi admitted.

 

Growing and attracting talent

Although WE League clubs are accelerating youth development and expanding pathways across U15, U18 and first team football, Kobayashi acknowledged that the overall product must improve to bring foreign players to Japan and entice homegrown talent to stay.

“Most of the national team players go to Europe or North America. I don’t say it’s a problem, but from a young age, girls who can play in the WE League want to go abroad,” Kobayashi outlined.

Indeed, when looking at the starting XI in last month’s AFC Women’s Asian Cup final, only one player – Hana Takahashi – plays in the WE League.

But the key to attracting domestic and international players to the WE League, is aligning financial investment and industry attitudes.

“The reason why women’s football has developed in European countries is the social thinking – you have to be equal and have the same opportunities as men in football. The Japanese way of thinking, especially in the football world, is not that at all,” Kobayashi continued.

“When I speak to people at Spanish clubs, women’s football is not a charity, but an investment.”

“We have assets. We have good, young players, but we’re exporting them, so we need to import too.”

Indeed, Spain is a perfect example of what can happen when investment becomes intentional, not optional. Back-to-back UEFA Women’s Nations League titles, 90% television viewership increase since 2016, and record-breaking crowd numbers reflect what can happen when the industry aligns in vision and commitment.

Japan has the players to compete against any nation in the world. Purposeful investment, combined with its overall quality of players and style, could transform the WE League into a true, global powerhouse.

 

The vision for the future

Moving forward, Kobayashi hopes that girls progressing through JEF United’s academies develop confidence and resilience, whether as players or people.

“We want to make the girls – even if they aren’t in JEF United – continue playing football and continue to be leaders,” Kobayashi said.

“Some of them have a dream to be a coach or a leader off the field too, so that’s one of the attributes we want to develop.”

This resilience, reflected by the club’s ‘never give up’ philosophy, is testament to the vision of empowerment championed by Kobayashi across the women’s game.

Even in the face of social obstacles and a lack of financial investment, perseverance and hard work is at the bedrock of women’s football in Japan. It is not just that these values exist, but that they are consistently manifested on and off the pitch, which can show future generations that football is a sport for all – men and women alike.

 

Final thoughts

There is no limit to what the WE League and the national team can achieve if given the resources it deserves. All the ingredients are there: individual quality, a distinct playing style, football philosophy and ambitions to grow.

By following the example of industry leaders like Kobayashi, women’s football in Japan can hopefully continue to make waves of impact – in the sporting landscape and society as a whole.

Football NSW supports Female Coaches CPD as Women’s Football Surges

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Image Credit: Shutterstock

Football NSW has used the platform of the AFC Women’s Asian Cup to deliver a targeted professional development workshop for female coaches, bringing together scholarship recipients for an evening of structured learning and direct engagement with elite women’s football.

Held at ACPE last month, the session was open to female coaches who received C or B Diploma scholarships through Football NSW in 2025. Coaching accreditation carries a financial cost that disproportionately affects women, who are less likely to have their development subsidised by clubs or associations operating in underfunded community football environments. Scholarship access changes that equation at the point where many women exit the pathway.

Facilitated by Football NSW Coach Development Coordinator Bronwyn Kiceec, the workshop focused on goal scoring trends from the tournament’s group stage, with coaches analysing attacking patterns and exploring how those insights could translate into their own environments. The group then attended the quarter-final between South Korea and Uzbekistan at Stadium Australia.

The structure of the evening mattered as much as its content. Female coaches in community football rarely have access to elite competition environments as a professional resource. The gap between the level at which most women coach and the level at which the game is analysed and discussed tends to reinforce itself. Placing scholarship recipients inside a major tournament, as participants rather than spectators, closes that gap in a way that a classroom session cannot.

Female coaches remain significantly underrepresented across all levels of the game in Australia. The pipeline that will change that depends not only on accreditation access but on the professional networks, peer relationships and exposure to elite environments that male coaches have historically taken for granted.

The workshop forms part of Football NSW’s ongoing commitment to developing female coaches through scholarships and structured learning opportunities.

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