W-League set for expansion ahead of 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup

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The W-League is set to grow by three teams in time for the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2023.

The Australian Professional Leagues announced plans for expansion to Australia’s premier women’s football competition, with Central Coast Mariners, Western United and Wellington Phoenix set to join ahead of the 2023 Women’s World Cup, set to be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand.

The expansion will be the competition’s first since 2015 when Melbourne City joined, with the exact timeline for the addition of these teams to be confirmed in the coming weeks by the APL, and will take the number of teams competing in the competition to 12.

Central Coast Mariners and Wellington Phoenix have aggressively pursued a W-League license for a number of years, whilst Western United, who joined the A-League in the last expansion of the men’s competition, have always earmarked their commitment to entering a team in the W-League as well.

The expansion means that the W-League Final Series will have an additional final – a Preliminary Final – which will reward teams finishing first and second with a ‘second chance’ on the road to the Grand Final.

Sarah Walsh, Head of Women’s Football at Football Australia, welcomed the news.

“Women and girls now have more choice than ever when it comes to selecting a sport to play in Australia. It’s imperative that Football continues to progress and evolve when it comes to providing greater access and opportunity for women and girls in football,” she said.

“With the W-League entering its 14th season and a commitment to broader expansion of the league, I am confident that we are taking the right steps forward as a game to ensure that football is the number one sport of choice for women and girls as we strive for 50:50 gender balance by 2027.

“Football has always provided women in football with a clear and accessible pathway to play for the Commonwealth Bank Matildas and junior women’s national teams. W-League expansion not only broadens these existing pathway opportunities, it additionally strengthens our national team aspirations for the FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia and New Zealand 2023 and beyond.”

The expansion will deliver greater commercial opportunities, as well as playing opportunities, for football in Australia, according to APL Managing Director Danny Townsend.

“This is just the beginning of a sustained investment programme in women’s football – we announced unbundling just 8-months ago, and are already bringing more games, more players, better broadcast, improved employment conditions and enhanced footballing pathways,” he said.

“We want to unleash football’s potential in Australia and this is a significant step forward in delivering the future that the game deserves.”

A long-term collective bargaining agreement was also announced, to be finalised between the APL and the Professional Football Association, much to the delight of PFA Co-CEO, Kate Gill.

“The expansion of the competition is an important step forward and illustrates the confidence in the women’s game and the solid foundations that have been built,” she said.

“The players have been vocal advocates for the growth of the competition and positively APL’s women’s football strategy will not only provide additional employment opportunities and match minutes for our talented players but delivers a healthy boost to the W-League in the lead up to the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023.”

In addition to the new teams and expanded competition, the APL will also launch a new “Club Championship”.

The Club Championship will reward the club (not the team) with the most combined points at the end of the men’s and women’s seasons.

The new trophy is designed to bring together fans of the men’s and women’s games together.

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“It’s Time for Bold Leadership”: Geoff Lord’s Challenge to Australian Football

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Image Credit: One Nil Media

“The game desperately needs leaders – whether they’re putting in money or not – and it desperately needs vision. Look at Peter V’landys and his role in building the NRL in the last 10 years!”

Melbourne Victory founding chairman Geoff Lord has delivered a blunt assessment of Australian football, calling for stronger leadership, greater vision and a renewed sense of ambition to help drive the A-League forward.

In the latest episode of Soccerscene: Unfiltered, Lord sits down with host Mihaila Kilibarda for an honest appraisal of where he believes Australian football has lost its way – and what needs to change.

Drawing on his experiences across Hawthorn Football Club and Melbourne Victory during periods of significant success, Lord reflects on the leadership and vision that helped build both organisations. He also discusses his push to bring Celtic to the Australian market and why he believes sport remains essential in addressing some of the broader challenges facing Australian society.

Now Chairman and CEO of Belgravia Group, Lord maintains a strong interest in the future of Melbourne Victory and the direction of Australian football.

He doesn’t hold back, challenging the game’s current leadership to think bigger and look at what can be achieved when sporting organisations have clear vision, strong leadership and the courage to make bold decisions.

For Lord, the example of Peter V’landys and the transformation of the NRL provides an obvious benchmark.

What can Australian football learn? And does the A-League have the leadership required to take the next step?

Listen to the latest episode of Soccerscene: Unfiltered with Geoff Lord and Mihaila Kilibarda now.

The A-League has a visibility problem and only Network 10 can fix it

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Image Credit: Australian Professional Leagues

The A-Leagues are just over a month away and with the final stages of the Australia Cup in progress, attention should be firmly turning towards Australian football. Instead, there is a familiar problem. The domestic game once again is struggling to cut through.

The A-Leagues recently secured a three-year extension with Paramount+ and Network 10. The agreement keeps every A-League Men’s and Women’s match on Paramount+, while the free-to-air broadcaster will show one men’s match each week. Following on from their initial five-year deal signed in 202, it’s great that the partnership appears in it for the long haul.

But the big question remains: why is the product not being sold to audiences loudly on the eve of the season? Where is the noise?

Stan Sport and the Nine Network’s Premier League has shown what can happen when a broadcaster actively promotes its football product. The A-League has good numbers in places – one in seven Australians claim to support an A-League team – but the product lacks the exposure it deserves with less than 7% of Australians actively watching the league. It rarely feels like a major sporting product.

The A-Leagues’ current deal

Network 10 and Paramount+ have invested heavily in Australian football. The previous deal before the three-year extension (signed 2021) cost the broadcasters $40 million per year.  A-League viewing on Paramount+ reached record levels in 2025/26 – viewing was up 55 per cent compared with 2021/22. The 2025/26 season reached 4.1 million live viewers.

Those numbers should be celebrated. But those successes are dependent on viewers signing up and tuning into the streaming service of Paramount+. The competition does not receive continual exposure across the Network 10 ecosystem. One men’s match is shown free-to-air each week. That is the contractual commitment. Many of those matches are pushed onto secondary channels rather than the main network.

The Premier League, whilst being a very different product, is receiving much more attention from its Australian broadcasters. Despite being hosted as late as 2:30am, it still receives a massive marketing boost. Stan Sports’ newest campaign boasts flashy billboards in major cities with stars such as Erling Haaland and Bruno Fernandes. Meanwhile, the A-League sits in the corner.

Nine is reportedly prepared to spend up to $860 million over six years to retain the Premier League beyond its current deal, which expires at the end of the 2027/28 season. That would be roughly $145 million per year. There is a reason Nine is willing to make that investment.

Since taking over the Premier League, Stan Sport subscriptions have increased by 40 per cent. Nine very rarely puts the Premier League on free-to-air; marquee matches such as Manchester City against Tottenham Hotspur in 2025 saw a total reach of 1.1 million. That’s nearly 14% of the A-League’s total yearly viewership.

I understand the talent discrepancy, but the lack of broadcast investment to make people aware of the local competitions, and the everyday fan’s ability to access them, is significant in contrast to the Premier League. 

Competition is getting smarter

The A-Leagues are not operating in a vacuum. Australian sport is becoming increasingly aggressive about broadcast exposure. The AFL’s current seven-year broadcast agreement is worth $4.5 billion.

These top-end agreements are not realistic for the A-League, but perhaps more relevant comparisons are Australian basketball’s NBL and cricket’s Big Bash.

Basketball has a similar challenge to football, competing for attention in summer. Its clubs are concentrated in major Australian cities, and also rely on younger audiences and digital engagement to drive growth. During the 2025/26 season, average audiences on Network 10’s primary channel increased by 18 per cent and the NBL’s 2026 finals coverage increased viewership by 36 per cent.

Importantly, all NBL finals coverage was shown on the main 10 channel as opposed to regular season games on 10 Bold and 10 Peach. Then came a major strategic move. Having been with Network 10 since 2021, the NBL chose not to renew its contract and went to market.

While the NBL’s streaming rights have remained with ESPN (primarily owned by Walt Disney Co.), Channel Nine swooped to buy the free-to-air NBL rights for the upcoming 2026/27 season. They’ll show two matches each week, with marquee games to appear on Channel 9.

The deal also includes a weekly studio program, a dedicated 9Now hub and broader promotion through Wide World of Sports. This is in direct competition with the A-League. Not only will both have free-to-air matches on Saturday nights, but access to more content from beyond the sport will be available for free.

The BBL provides another useful comparison. Under Cricket Australia’s current agreement, Seven and 7plus show 33 of the 43 BBL matches, including three finals. On average, that is at  least three-to-four free games a week.

The point is not that every A-League match needs to be on a major free-to-air channel. It cannot realistically achieve that. But despite the A-League’s broadcasters investing big in Australian football, they’ve still been drowned out when compared to Stan and the Premier League. Meanwhile, the average Australian does not have the same access to the A-League as established competitions such as the AFL. 

The BBL has four games a week free, the AFL has three, the NBL two. The A-League languishes behind with a single game. Not only does it hurt diehards, but it stunts any growth from the casual fan.

What the A-Leagues need to do

The A-Leagues are now tied to Paramount+ and Network 10 for another three years. That makes the next step obvious. The league needs to make the most of the partnership. Simply, the broadcasters have to be doing more.

Accessibility is the key. Network 10 has to be actively promoting the A-League with free-to-air shows that have analysis. 10’s free app and Paramount+ must make the A-League the first thing you see.

Football Australia has done great things with the Australia Cup. Select matches are available free through Football Australia’s YouTube channel alongside coverage on Network 10 and Paramount+. That is smart and will attract casual audiences, without asking them to invest financially.

But the pressure also has to fall on Network 10. If they’ve invested in Australian football for the long term, they need to support the investment properly. Promote games days prior to kick-off; cover the game’s stories even during the off-season. If Network 10 and Paramount want a return on their investment it is in their best interest to have the sport be a consistent and routine presence. 

The A-League does not necessarily need another broadcast deal. It needs a broadcaster that invests and believes in the product it spent so much to secure. The football is there, and audiences are growing. Now the promotion needs to match the ambition.

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