Optus Sport and Seven West Media are the broadcast partners for the FIFA Women’s World Cup, but the rights to the Men and Women’s Asian Cup, friendly matches and qualifiers, sit with the Ten Network and its parent company, Paramount. The $100 million deal, signed in 2021, ends next year.
Mr Johnson said the agreement with Ten had generated much-needed audiences for the sport, but signalled all broadcasters and streaming services would be given the opportunity to capitalise on the momentum of the Matildas. An open market process could mean all Matildas and Socceroos matches end up behind a paywalled service such as Optus Sport.
Matildas and Socceroos matches are not on the federal government’s anti-siphoning list, which determines the major sporting and cultural events that should be on free-to-air.
Football Australia wants to leverage the success of the Matildas and secure a…