Australia was rightfully swept up in Matildas mania over the last month as the Women’s World Cup broke all kinds of records.
The 2023 Women’s World Cup, which was co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand, had both nations turning out in force to support their teams.
The ticket sales exceeded expectations by almost 500,000 and the tournament generated more than $A888m to break even for the first time.
And that’s not even talking about the record viewership, including 11.15m who tuned in to watch the semi-final between the Matildas and England, the highest rating TV program since 2001 when OzTAM records started being kept.
Even the Matildas third-place playoff against Sweden and the final between Spain and England had more than two million viewers each across the country.
The tournament was an unmitigated success and many pundits said the game had been changed for the better.
But…